Cukoos & Cowbirds
by PagetFan
Summary: An injured Prentiss joins Morgan and his family for Fran's birthday and stumbles on a twisted UnSub terrorizing the young mothers of Chicago.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters or Criminal Minds. If I did it would be so different and yet so much the same.

SUMMARY: An injured Prentiss joins Morgan and his family for Fran's birthday and stumbles on a string of cases which could mean tragedy for a loved one.

NOTE: This story takes place sometime after the season 7 opener but does not follow cannon. Thanks so much for reading! As always, reviews are a writer's fuel so make sure to tell me what you think.

*CM*

Emily Prentiss isn't exactly sure how she ended up here. 'Here' being the red eye from D.C to Chicago next to a bored-looking Derek Morgan flipping through the celebrity gossip rag Emily had purchased at the duty free shop.

She winced as she shifted, trying desperately to find a relatively comfortable position in which to spend the remainder of the flight. If asked, Emily would put it down to her bruised ribs, healing head wound and sprained wrist, she would never admit to Derek that she was accustomed to flying first class and the tiny hard seats in coach were not something she had anticipated.

"Is it time for another pain killer?" Derek asked quietly, concern for his friend creasing his brow and twisting his lips into a small frown.

"No" Emily answered "Well, yes, but I want to wait until we're settled" she assured him with a weak smile. "I want to be able to thank your mother for inviting me without drooling." Derek seemed to accept this reasoning after a moment, although his concern is still evident when he offers her his flimsy complimentary in-flight pillow.

That look Derek was giving her now; that was how she'd ended up here on the red-eye to Chicago.

They'd been on the heals of a sexual sadist, running like mad through the back woods of Virginia hoping like hell they were in time to save 7 year old Christy Sherwood from ending up dead in the river like 4 other girls before her. Emily had heard Derek go down with a strangled yell behind her and had turned just in time to see their UnSub wielding a large rock in one hand, a beaten and frightened looking Christy caught tightly in his other arm. She saw the rock coming back down, Derek was already unconscious so it was clear the UnSuB not only wanted the dark man incapacitated, he wanted him dead.

Emily hadn't thought, she'd simply acted, diving towards the UnSub causing him to drop the rock and the girl but the momentum sent both Emily and the UnSub tumbling down a long steep hill and into the shallow but freezing river. On the bank she managed to cuff the injured and unconscious man to a nearby tree and radio for help before allowing herself to succumb to the concussion she'd sustained and pass out.

When she'd come to in the hospital nearly two days later, Derek was by her bed, his eyes full of fear, guilt, shame and concern. He'd apologized profusely, hardly letting her come fully into consciousness before begging her to forgive him. Somehow, in his groveling, he'd come to the conclusion that she should spend her two week recovery leave in Chicago with him. He'd wanted to take care of her and help her relax but he'd have to do so in Chicago because he'd already promised his mother he'd be home for her birthday.

Emily blames the intravenous drugs the hospital had her on for being so quick to agree. Now she can't help but feel awful that she was intruding on Derek's time with his family, not to mention his family's time with him. Sure she was injured, but the ribs and the wrist weren't any worse than she'd suffered before and although the concussion had been pretty severe and she'd been hypothermic when help had finally come the doctors had assured her that she'd make a full and quick recovery.

"It's not too late for me to book a hotel" She told him as they exited a cab and pulled their luggage into the front entrance of his mother's apartment building. Derek rolled his eyes.

"Yes it is." he told her, leaning on the button that would let his family know they'd arrived. "Mama would be heartbroken if you did, after I told her what happened she seemed pretty determined to have you." His head dipped and he seemed almost shy when he added "You saved her baby boy's life."

Emily gazed into his eyes, her look filling in for the mantras she'd been bombarding him with the last 48 hours. 'It's not your fault, I am going to be fine, you'd have done the same for me.' The moment was interrupted by a giggle.

"We buzzed you up nearly 5 minutes ago, but if you'd prefer we leave you two alone in the cold I'll just head back up." it was one of Derek's sisters speaking, the door propped open with her foot while she leaned back into the warmth of the building.

"I was just waiting for you to come and help me with these bags." Derek grinned at his sister, doing his best to hide the blush that heated his cheeks. A blush that matched Emily's at being caught in such an intense moment with her colleague.

The banter continued all the way up two flights of narrow stairs and into Fran Morgan's apartment. Emily stood back and watched as Derek was embraced by each of his family members, starting with his mother, then the sister who'd helped them up -Sarah, Emily finally remembered- and a glowing Desiree. Emily noticed almost immediately the swollen baby bump under the young woman's sweater and smiled remembering Derek confiding in her that though he was happy for his sister, he was concerned about her raising a baby by herself and eager to beat the hell out of the boyfriend who'd left her upon hearing the news. That baby was lucky to have such a wonderful uncle. With a note of self-pity Emily thought how lucky that baby was to have this whole close-knit family to support him or her.

"It's nice to meet you again Agent Prentiss." Fran held out her hand and warmly smiled.

"Please, call me Emily, I am officially on leave for two weeks" Emily smiled back and suddenly she was being pulled into a tight hug. She tried not to let the pain in her ribs show on her face as she accepted the embrace.

"Thank you" Fran whispered loudly in her ear. "For making sure my boy made it home"

"It was nothing" Emily said, pulling away.

"It wasn't nothing" Sarah insisted, putting an arm around her mother, the other resting on her sister's belly. "Derek's the only brother we have and as much as I hate to admit it, we'd be quite lost without him" she stuck her tongue out in Derek's direction.

Desi reached for Emily's arm. "We're going to spend the next two weeks thanking you as best we can, starting with dinner"

Emily had dined with presidents, prime-ministers and nobility around the world and yet the idea of sharing a cozy family dinner with the Morgan's suddenly made Emily feel slightly uncomfortable. The Morgan children got to work setting the table, their loving banter seemingly endless while Fran pulled a delicious smelling casserole from the oven. Emily, having no real reference to draw on, wasn't sure where she fit in such a cozy, warm family occasion.

When they were all seated the chatter slowed and the Morgan family started asking about Emily and her life, making sure to make her feel welcome and included in their conversations.

"So where are you from, Emily?" Desi started. Emily chuckled a bit as she realized that the girls thought they were starting off easy in their curiosity fueled questions about this mysterious women Derek had brought home. But as with most things in Emily's life, this question wasn't so straight forward.

"Well, I was born in Germany" she shrugged. "My mother is an ambassador and my father is with the World Bank so we moved around a lot, I am not really from anywhere."

"Moved around a lot where?" Sarah asked, the Morgan women leaning eagerly over their plates, faces full of excited curiosity over what they surely thought was a romantic upbringing. Emily was used to this reaction.

"From Germany to Belgium and France, Russia and the Ukraine, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, then Spain and Italy. Then I came back to the United States to finish school." Emily laughed nervously.

"That must have been so exciting." said Fran. Emily shrugged and complimented the food; Derek noticed her discomfort and changed the subject.

"Prentiss is a total nerd" he offered, earning a glare from Emily. "She's into Vonnegut and Bradbury. She reads almost as much as Dr. Reid" Emily gave him a confused look, trying to figure out where he was going with this. "Sarah's a librarian" he offered by way of explanation.

"Oh! I wanted to be a librarian when I was a kid" Emily smiled widely, happy for something in common.

"Really!" Derek asked his turn to be confused.

"Sure" Emily nodded. "Well, I really wanted to be a super hero, but my mild-mannered alter-ego was going to be a librarian... Or an astronomer" she told him seriously. The whole table laughed at that.

"How long have you been with the BAU?" Sarah continued.

"6 years" Emily said then hesitated. "5 and a half I guess, I'd been away recently" she amended. Derek dropped his gaze to the table and Emily picked at her salad. She wasn't sure what, if anything Derek had told his family about her death and subsequent resurrection, and she immediately regretted bringing it up as she's not sure she'd like to explain.

"Emily makes a habit out of doing stupid reckless things to protect others" Derek offered his curious family but the words are low and bitter. Emily put down her fork about to excuse herself when Fran's voice stopped her.

"Derek Anthony Morgan, that's no way to speak to a guest, especially not one who saved your life not 5 days ago." she scolded. Derek seemed to shrink under his mother's hard gaze but his face remained set in it's scowl.

"No it's ok" Emily sighed, meeting the older woman's gaze. "He's right." she shrugged. "Thank you so much for dinner, but I am a little late taking my painkillers and the flight is starting to catch up with me." She got up trying her best not to jostle her ribs too much and took her plate to the sink.

"I'll show you to the guest room" Sarah offered and grabbed her bags from the doorway.

Please Review and let me know what you think! Do you like the set up? Should I continue?


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters or Criminal Minds. If I did it would be so different and yet so much the same.

SUMMARY: An injured Prentiss join's Morgan and his family for Fran's birthday and stumbles on a twisted UnSub terrorizing the young mothers of Chicago.

NOTE: This story takes place sometime after the season 7 opener but does not follow cannon. Thanks so much for reading! As always, reviews are a writer's fuel so make sure to tell me what you think.

*CM*

Emily is so put out by what had happened at dinner that it takes her a while to realize that the guest room she's in is small but comfortable and filled with pictures. She recognizes one of a young Derek in dress blues, his graduation from the Chicago police academy right beside a similar photo taken decades before. Derek has his father's eyes, Emily decides as she inspects the photos further, and his smile.

Suddenly it all makes sense, as much as Derek says he's just happy to have her back, she's aware of the hurt and anger under the surface and only now does she realize that Derek's own father died putting his life on the line to save a corner store full of people including his young son. She liked to think she knew Derek pretty well and knows that the guilt over not being able to help, over surviving an armed robbery where his father did not, and the revenge of a sociopath terrorist where she did not, must have eaten him alive. The fact that she'd done it again, taking the risk to save him while he lay unconscious on the forest floor would only serve to bring that guilt and anger bubbling up to the surface. Again Emily thinks that coming with him on this trip was an awful idea.

The next morning Emily finds Fran and Desi chatting softly over coffee and pancakes in the kitchen. They're talking about the baby, about whether or not they want to know the sex at the next ultrasound. Emily does her best to retreat but Fran catches her with a smile.

"Come on in, Emily" she tells her. "Coffee is hot and if you're patient there will be more pancakes in just a moment."

Emily finds herself at the table staring into the living room at Derek's large socked feet hanging off the side of the couch. "I take it he usually stays in that guest room?" Emily asks with concern. She has already decided to forgive him for the previous night. Despite the issues they still needed to work through he was the best friend she had and she wasn't about to let a bit of tension ruin their vacation.

Desi nods. "Don't worry, Emily, he usually ends up falling asleep there anyways"

Emily turns the conversation back to Desi and the baby. The youngest Morgan is radiant with excitement. "When's your guess date?" she asks.

"March 3rd, not long now." The youngest Morgan answers happily. "Although mama just told me I was a few weeks early, maybe I'll have a leap year baby."

"It's your first baby dear, it's more likely to be a St. Patrick's Day baby." her mother laughs from the stove where two large fluffy pancakes are being flipped onto a plate for Emily.

"She's right" Emily agrees, eagerly accepting her breakfast. "Full term babies can be anywhere from 38 to 42 or even 43 weeks." The two women look surprised that she knows this.

"Do you have children?" Desi asks.

"No, I just did a little reading when our coworker, JJ, was pregnant." Emily answers with a grimace, a pang of jealousy sparking as she watches Desi's hand smooth over her rounded stomach.

"But you want children?" It was Fran who'd asked the question and suddenly Emily got the feeling there was more going on in this conversation than she was aware of.

"I don't know" Emily lied. "I don't think it's in the cards for me, with my job and my embarrassing lack of a love life I just don't know how a baby would fit." She dove into her pancakes, hoping the two women wouldn't notice the sadness that came over her as their conversations continued.

**

When Derek finally awoke he heard laughter in the kitchen. His mother and sisters seemed quite amused by something, another laugh trickled through the doorway toward him and his heart skipped a beat. He can't remember the last time he heard Emily laugh. Since her return she'd chuckled, smirked and even smiled, but he'd been missing her laugh; missing the way her eyes lit up, the way her head tipped back and her lips parted to show her perfect white teeth. He was so busy soaking up the sound he almost forgot that there must be a reason for it, and that reason could only be embarrassing for him since his mother an sisters were involved.

He found the four women hunched over a photo album at the kitchen counter and groaned. Emily caught his eye and smiled widely, the kind of smile that nearly always resulted in a goofy grin spreading across his own features, this time was no exception. He smiled wide as relief that she seemed to have forgiven him flooded through his veins.

"I had no idea you played the drums" Emily smirked.

"Tortured" Desi cut in. "he tortured the drums and anyone unfortunate enough to be within earshot." the women laughed again. Morgan shrugged.

"It was a short-lived hobby, I wasn't very good. But it's no surprise to Emily that I like toys that go boom" he huffed.

"I still get ringing in that ear some days" she told him pointedly. "And every time I do I fantasize about all the different ways I could make you suffer for it."

"You fantasize about me?" Derek shot back, eyebrows dancing suggestively. Emily cursed her fair skin as she felt blush blossoming over her cheeks.

"I said I fantasize about hurting you" she corrected, trying and failing to keep up her swagger.

"Don't we all" laughed Sarah as the three Morgan women exchanged a few knowing looks. Derek brushed by Emily on his way to the coffee maker, exchanging a hug good morning with his mother as she reheated the pan for his pancakes.

"So how exactly did Derek wreck your ear?" Desi asked.

"He fired an MK-5 through the windshield of the SUV I was driving." she huffed. The sisters looked shocked and when she heard a gasp from Fran behind her she realized her mistake. She doubted Derek talked much about the more dangerous things that happened to them on the job. Unless he had physical wounds to account for it was unlikely he would mention it at all. They worried enough about him working law enforcement having experienced the loss of their father all those years ago.

"You what!" Fran finally spoke up, slapping her son on the arm.

"I didn't have a choice" Derek defended before locking eyes with Emily. "He almost shot you"

"I had him" Emily replied weakly, knowing full well that her plan would have ended with a lot more injury then a burst eardrum. Boyd had reached his endgame, he wasn't going to chicken going head to head with their SUV, and he would have taken them down with him in a blaze of glory. "I didn't need you to save me, Morgan, I can take care of myself"

"So can I" he glared, their gazes heating up again, their unspoken argument from the night before boiling back up to the surface. Emily sees the accusation, the hurt, the anger, all of it simmering in his eyes as his arms move to cross over his chest indignantly.

"It wasn't your fight" She answered his silent question, both agents knowing without words that the topic had been changed. Boyd had been small beans next to Doyle.

"I am your partner, Emily; your fight is my fight." He insisted, his voice dangerously low. Emily sighed, swallowing her fight instinct and readying herself to retreat again. The last thing she wanted was to ruin his family's quiet morning entirely.

"I should go shower and change for the day." she mumbled, turning to go, his arm caught hers and stopped her but she didn't turn back around. "I have some old friends to visit today so I'll be out of your way until dinner." She ground out and pulled out of his grasp.

"You've got issues, brother" Sarah balked when Derek finally turned back to his family. He clenched his fists at her comment.

Fran watched her son struggling to control his frustration and smiled knowingly at him. "I thought you invited Emily out here to help her rest and relax?"

"She started it" he grumbled, taking his breakfast and stomping off to another room.

**

When Emily returned to the Morgan home shortly after 5 she was exhausted. She'd spent much of the morning and afternoon wandering through her old neighborhood and doing a bit of shopping followed by late lunch and a walk trough a park with an old friend from the FBI field office, her husband, and their toddler son and new baby. While it was nice to catch up she couldn't help but wonder if the universe was just playing with her now.

Here she was still recovering from a run-in with a serial killer whom she put away, effectively saving the lives of countless young girls; a fact that should have left her feeling fulfilled, accomplished and proud of having saved a young girl and her partner from an immanent painful death. Instead she was feeling tired and alone, wondering if all her hard work getting to this point had cost her the chance at a family of her own.

She had taught the little boy a French rhyming song and had awkwardly held the newborn girl in her good arm, she thought about Desi's swollen belly and radiant smile and felt longing stronger then she ever had before. Most painfully she thought of the intensity becoming more common between herself and Derek and wondered if the risk of humiliation and heartbreak was worth a chance at being a part of a family as supportive and loving as the Morgan's.

She was just searching out the appropriate buzzer to call up to Fran's apartment when she heard voices around the corner in the alley. The hair on her neck stood on end when she listened to what they were saying.

"That's her, that's the white girl Derek Morgan brought home to his mama" a laugh followed and two men wearing gang colors sauntered into view and cornered her in the doorway.

"Rodney" the older of the two drawled by way if introducing himself. "What's a pretty miss thing like you doing in my hood?" Emily rolled her eyes.

"I believe you already know, Rodney" She shot back, trying to determine what these two could possibly want. They were obviously trying to intimidate her but they'd made no overt moves to hurt her. "I am the white girl Derek Morgan's brought home to mama." she quoted.

The younger man grinned. "Sassy little thing" he spoke to Rodney. "I bet she'd be feisty to bag too"

"listen white girl" Rodney cut off his young partner.

"Emily" Emily corrected him.

"Emily" he said with an amused tone. "You tell Derek that his old friend Rodney says hello, and congratulations on the newest little Morgan, enjoy the little bastard while you can." they left in a cloud of laughter and Emily quickly rang up to the apartment.

"You ok?" Derek asked the moment she walked in. Emily forced a smile, not wanting to worry him about the thugs downstairs.

"tired." she shrugged. "Long day." Derek peeked over his shoulder to make sure his mom and sisters were still happily chatting away in the living room before moving closer and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I am really sorry" he told her, another heated gaze passing between them. "I haven't been very fair to you. I know you can take care of yourself and I am so so grateful for what you did in those woods" Emily nodded quietly at his words but said nothing, simply holding his gaze. "When I woke up, Christy was crying, she told me what happened and said you weren't moving." Derek's whole body seemed to shudder at the memory and Emily nearly gasped at the pain she saw in his eyes. "I thought I'd lost you. Christy wouldn't go down the hill wouldn't go anywhere near that man, but she was freezing so I radioed for help and sat there holding her, trying to keep her warm and all I could do was stare at you and pray that you would move, yell, gasp, do anything to show me that you were ok." slowly he put his arms around her and Emily melted with a sigh into his chest. "I thought I was watching you die again, only this time I couldn't even hold you"

"I didn't die Derek." she whispered into his neck. "I am right here." his arms tightened around her, reminding Emily that she really ought to take her meds and lay down but she didn't move.

"Hey Derek, Mama says..." Sarah's words cut off with a grin as she watched Derek and Emily leap away from each other. "What's going on in here?" she asked knowingly.

"Nothing" Emily smiled. "I am just going to freshen up and take my meds. Then maybe I can help with dinner?" she said before making her escape up the stairs.

"What did Mama want?" Derek bit out with a glare at his sister. Sarah looked confused for a moment before remembering her original mission.

"She says she'll start dinner just as soon as she knows whether you and Emily would prefer chicken or pork." She rehearsed. Then smiled wickedly. "I guess you'll have to go ask her, maybe you could help her 'freshen up' while you're at it?"

"Chicken" Derek answered with a sigh.

Sarah looked confused. "But pork chops are your favorite."

"Yes but Emily doesn't care for them" he answered before heading up the stairs after his friend. Sarah smiled. Her brother had it bad.

He met her at the top of the stairs as she was coming out of the bathroom, her hair has been pulled back into a pony tail and Derek finds that the damp curling wisps that surround her face are sexy and endearing in a way he never thought possible.

"Do, uh, do you need any fresh towels or anything?" he asked awkwardly.

"No thank you" Emily smiles. For nearly three entire minutes it's as though the two agents are frozen and Emily is convinced that if she were to tally the time they'd spent just staring at each other like this since her return it would equal hours and hours, if not full days.

"I told Mama you'd prefer chicken over pork chops, I hope that's ok. I know you mentioned once that the only pork you like is bacon" again the words are awkward and unsure; it almost sounds as if he's mindlessly reciting some predetermined script. Emily only nods so he pushes on. "And, um, I meant to ask you when you came in if you were busy tomorrow. I was going to go pitch in at the community center and thought you might like to come along."

"Yeah, thanks, that sounds great" Emily replied. Suddenly Derek notices a stray drop of water, a left over from when she'd washed her face in the bathroom, it was rolling at an aching slow pace down her chest toward the valley of her breasts and without thinking he reaches out and wipes it away with his thumb.

Emily makes a sound that she instantly wishes she could take back. Derek hopes maybe it was a moan, but it could have been a grunt, maybe a gasp. He wonders if it was made out of surprise, but the tingling of his fingers against her skin wishes it to be arousal. With a flash Emily is gone; pushing past him and into the guest room and Derek is seriously considering a cold shower before supper.

TO BE CONTINUED! Tension is building, odd threats are surfacing. Next installment will be here soon. Reviews are love!


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters or Criminal Minds. If I did it would be so different and yet so much the same.

SUMMARY: An injured Prentiss join's Morgan and his family for Fran's birthday and stumbles on a twisted UnSub terrorizing the young mothers of Chicago.

NOTE: This story takes place sometime after the season 7 opener but does not follow cannon. Thanks so much for reading! As always, reviews are a writer's fuel so make sure to tell me what you think.

*CM*

"According to that book Sarah got me, the baby has a fully developed sense of hearing" Desi shares happily over dinner.

"It also says that you should make sure he or she hears the voices of the people you care about, so they learn to recognize them" Sarah adds.

"So Derek, while we've got you here we'll make sure you get some extra face time with the bump." Fran orders with a smile. The entire conversation should have brought a smile to Emily's face, this close knit family already bonding with it's new member but as she watches Derek lean over and murmur to his niece or nephew in teasing tones she hears Rodney's threatening voice again. *enjoy the little bastard while you can*

"Reid says they like music too, but you're supposed to limit exposure to 20 minutes per day." Derek says, making her sister nod.

"I know" she tells him, "they say you should also expose them to different languages too, something about synapses developing to accept linguistic information." Suddenly Derek is grinning at Emily widely.

"I guess that means you're up Em." he moves away from his sister and motions Emily closer.

"You want me to talk to the baby?" she asks.

"I want you to expose my niece or nephew to multiple languages and develop his synapses" he confirms. Again his mother and sisters are leaning forwards with curiosity. Soaking in this new detail about her and adding it to the picture of her they were surely creating.

"Multiple languages? How many do you speak" Sarah asks in awe.

"Um, six fluently" Emily answers, the admission feels like bragging but at Sarah's motioning to go on she adds: "French, Italian, Arabic, Spanish, Russian, and German. My Latin was ok last I used it but really, how many opportunities does one really get to practice a dead language?" None of the Morgan's seems to have anything to add and so Emily focused on Desi's belly.

In perfect French she whispers; "_hello in there sweet baby, I am Emily, I work with your uncle Derek. It's not so bad really; he's easy on the eyes at least... I promise to protect you baby, I don't know from what just yet, but I won't let anything happen to your family._"

Emily smiled wide and looked up at Desi in amazement when she's rewarded with a distinct roll. Her eyes turned to Derek, about to let something snide rip off her tongue about the baby liking her better but she was stopped by his eyes, dark with desire.

"It's nice to hear you speak like that when it's not to interview victims and witnesses." Derek told her, his voice almost cracking.

Emily is sure she's never seen him like this before, cocky, flirtatious, teasing, baiting, all those she'd witnessed but right now he could only be described as aroused. She blushes hard and looks away, trying desperately to find something to look at that aren't Derek or his sisters, and good lord not his mother. Her eyes settle back on Desi's stomach where the baby is still tapping away against her palm. She's not sure what possesses her in that moment but when she opens her mouth she finds a song on her lips. Not the silly counting song she'd taught the young boy earlier that day, but a much more personal one, a lullaby her grandfather used to sing.

Later in the evening, after desert and more banter, after Emily had offered to wash up the kitchen and beat an obviously-used-to-winning Sarah at scrabble, Emily finally finds a moment alone with Desiree Morgan. The others have gone to catch a midnight showing of one of Fran's favorite movies but one pregnant and one still injured, Emily and Desi fain exhaustion and stay home.

"Can I ask you something?" Emily asks as she fixes some tea for the two of them.

"Yes my brother totally likes you too" Desi answers with a smile.

"Oh, um, that wasn't what I was going to ask." Emily says, happy her back is currently turned to the young woman.

"Oh well, that's definitely my answer. He's head over heals for you, Emily, and what's even better is the rest of us Morgan's like you too." Desi tells her seriously and Emily feels the warmth in her cheeks move to her heart.

"Thanks Desi." she says seriously. She moves to the table and carefully sets down two cups of hot tea. "I actually wanted to ask about the baby's father" Desi's hand freezes over her cup and her face goes a little white. Emily cringes and reaches to cover her hand. "I know it's none of my business, but Derek had mentioned that the father wasn't around and since he hasn't beaten anyone senseless since we've been here I am assuming you haven't told them who he is."

"It doesn't matter" Desi says with resolve. "He's nothing more than a donor. He will never be a part of this baby's life."

"I know Desi, and for what it's worth I think you've got more then enough love and support around you that he isn't even needed" the young woman relaxes at Emily's kind words, but she knows she must carry on and risk being on the outs with her in order to determine if the threat she'd received earlier held any merit. "It's just that I had an interesting run-in with a man named Rodney today. Do you know him"

"of course? He and Derek got into trouble once when they were kids and ever since Rodney's had it in for Derek. He harasses Sarah and I sometimes but he's just a thug; no one to be worried about." The girl insists, but her bitten lip and tense brow give her away.

"You don't look like you're not worried about him." Emily implores.

"The guy that... The donor... He's a friend of Rodney's. I knew he wasn't going to win any man of the year prizes but I liked him ok. It wasn't serious though and I haven't spoken to him since I told him I was pregnant." Desi is defensive and Emily can't really blame her. She has no right asking these questions.

"How did he react to the news?" Desi's face reinforces Emily's thoughts, she has no right. But Desi knows that her brother trusts this woman and that's good enough for Desi.

"I don't know, kind of shrugged it off I guess, like he wasn't really surprised. I mean we weren't exactly careful. He asked if I was keeping it, I told him yes and that I didn't want anything from him and I left." the whole saga is told with a careless shrug. It has been 7 months since the day that man had brushed her off and Desi does her best not to think of it. "What did Rodney say to you?" She changes the subject.

"Nothing all that important. I think he was just trying to get to Derek by insinuating that the baby was his." Emily lies, not wanting to worry the girl.

"Definitely not" Desi laughed. "Rodney is just jealous that Derek made something of himself. Seriously don't worry about him, he's just a wannabe."

Emily tried to shrug off the threats that Rodney had made, wanting desperately to believe Desi was right that the man was all flash and no bang, but the words nagged at her, keeping her tossing and turning most of the night despite her pain killer cocktail.

***

"You have all probably heard stranger danger, but sometimes bad people aren't strangers, sometimes they are just tricky people" Emily looked down into the bright faces of the preschool group she was currently working with. This was surprisingly the hardest part of the job for her, sitting face to face with innocent wide-eyed children while a very Reid-like voice in the back of her head was calculating how many of them would statistically become victims of abuse. How many would fall to the neighbourhood gangs, and how small a number of them would get out. Like Derek had.

As Emily continues her presentation and plays a few games with the boisterous group she contemplates her partner. They had never spoken about Carl Buford after the original case had been closed years ago. As far as she knows Derek hadn't spoken of it with anyone. She acknowledges that inviting her here to help him run abuse prevention workshops with the kids is, in itself, an admission that he trusts her with the knowledge of his ordeal and has made her a small part of his healing.

This show of trust combined with the intensity of the last few months culminating in their encounter the previous night has her head spinning. At this point there is no doubt in her mind that there is far more then friendship between them but she hesitates over whether that something should be explored. They work together; they still have healing to do as friends. The skin of her chest still tingles where he'd touched her, just above the scar that stands out as a constant reminder of the ordeal that they still needed to heal from.

She hasn't seen him since they had arrived at the community center and divvied up the work to be done. She had taken the preschoolers, Derek the K-1st graders in the morning program, the new center coordinator had been trained to work with the afternoon program. Leaving Derek and Emily a break before the after school program kids started showing up at which point they would each do two programs one for the elementary school kids, and one for the teens with Emily speaking to the girls and Derek the boys. She is still absorbed in a rousing game of toss when Derek shows up for lunch.

"Derwek!" a boy next to her calls excitedly, effectively ending the game that most of the kids had been loosing interest in anyways. Emily watches them scatter to complete their clean up routine with a smile before turning to see Derek high-fiving the boy who had recognized him.

"Dillon! my man!" Derek greats the child "Look at how big you are you must have grown ten feet since I saw you last!" The child's laugh, like Christmas bells, fills the room with warmth and Emily can't help the smile that graces her face and the stirrings in her heart as she watched Derek work his charm. "You were good for my friend, Emily?" he asks, motioning to bring her into their conversation.

"Yes!" The child insists. "She taught us about tricky people, and we played games!" He reported excitedly. "How do you know Miss Emily?" The boy's face twists into a look of curiosity as he eyes Emily then Derek and back again.

"Emily works with me" Derek tells him.

"Fighting bad guys!" Dillon lights up. "That's so cool." He tells her. Emily laughs.

"How do you know Derek?" she asks him back, mimicking his curious look and stance which makes the boy laugh again.

"He helped my mom find her brother" He answered in that plain way children have of relating details. "He died when she was little like me"

"Oh" Emily nods with an inquisitive look at Derek. "He's a pretty helpful guy like that isn't he?"

"He's the best!" Dillon nodded vigorously. "He can find anything. He even found my missing power ranger, and found me this place to stay while my mom got a good job"

His large brown eyes looked up at Derek in awe while he regaled Emily with the story of his hero's help and when his story was finished he looked around. "It's almost home time" he said. "I have to go clean up, bye Dewrek! Bye Emily!"

"You found your John Doe?" Emily confirms. Derek nods grimly and ushers her away from the preschoolers and towards the door and doesn't speak again until he's helping her into her coat.

"Yeah, I didn't think the story could get any more tragic but it did." He sighed. "His sister came forward about six months ago, we were holding a vigil for him when the anniversary came up, I was helping the center raise funds for more prevention programs and she saw it in the news. Seems she and her brother had been living in a shelter a few blocks over. The boy had lied his way in to avoid social services and had been taking care of her waiting for their mom to come back. It's still not clear where she'd gone to but she hasn't turned up. My John Doe's remains match for relational DNA"

"That's great, Derek" Emily said softly, stopping his brisk pace with a hand on his arm. "You found him, you gave him a name, you fought for him when no one else could and you've brought his family answers." Her voice, she noticed, takes on the note of admiration that Dillon's had a few minutes before. Derek Shrugged.

"She was in a bad way." Derek said flatly. "Using, hooking, struggling to keep her son in her own home and fed. She doesn't even remember what their last name was or anything about her mother or where they had lived. The CPS report says she wouldn't talk to any of their workers either so they just dumped her into foster care where she… they…" He shrugged with another heavy sigh and stared off over the city skyline. "Solve one case open another, it never ends"

"You're right" Said Emily softly. "It doesn't, but you helped them, because you're a good man and you won't ever stop being a hero." After a few moments searching out his gaze he finally met her eyes and matched her soft smile. "It's what I like about you." She added. "That you'll always do everything you can to make things right."

"Funny" Derek replied. "That's what I like about you too"

Emily chuckled as she looped her arm through his and leaned into him, a signal to start walking. She held onto him for blocks, neither saying anything but enjoying the cool air and city sounds in silence as they walked. Eventually they came to a diner which Derek promptly ushered her into.

TO BE CONTINUED!


	4. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters or Criminal Minds. If I did it would be so different and yet so much the same.

SUMMARY: An injured Prentiss join's Morgan and his family for Fran's birthday and stumbles on a twisted UnSub terrorizing the young mothers of Chicago.

NOTE: This story takes place sometime after the season 7 opener but does not follow cannon. Thanks so much for reading! As always, reviews are a writer's fuel so make sure to tell me what you think.

*CM*

"This is nice." Emily sighed contentedly as she leaned back into the diner booth full and satisfied.

"Stan's Diner?" Derek asked, his eyebrows lifting into an incredulous look. "It's a dive." Emily laughed and shook her head before letting her face fall into a small tender smile.

"I meant this" She gestured between them. "Spending time with you, talking about everything and nothing, not talking about work." Derek nodded and reached out to snatch an uneaten onion ring from Emily's plate. "I missed this when I was away." She added with a far off look. As always Derek bristled slightly at the mention of her death.

"Me too" he agreed softly but offered nothing more.

"I was nervous about coming here with you, to Chicago." She admitted, finding herself unusually eager to share her inner musings. "I know that despite your best efforts you're still angry with me. I get that, it's ok. I am still a little angry with myself."

"A little" Derek conceded with a shrug. "But I am more happy to have you back then I was angry that you went away." He told her sincerely. "I am glad you came. I like seeing you getting along with my family." Again they find themselves staring at each other. Their eyes meeting with so much intensity the air around them practically crackled. Emily swallowed hard, realizing the admission in his words. He enjoyed seeing her get on with his family; what would it matter unless he had been imagining the same thing she had; a future in which she was apart of it.

"I love your mother" Emily told him, finally breaking their connection to look down at her coffee. "She's so warm and loving and everything my mother isn't" Derek smiled brightly.

"She's the best." He agreed eagerly.

"Obviously" Emily quipped. "She managed to raise a terror like you into a reasonably respectable guy." With a sly smile at his over-played shock she pushed the bill toward him. "The kind of respectable guy who pays for lunch when he takes a girl out."

*CM*

The preschoolers she'd met that morning had been attentive if a little restless and she felt as though her message had been received loud and clear. The teens on the other hand; Emily is no stranger to the kind of trouble a young girl could get into, but she hadn't factored in how much protection her privilege had afforded her.

Unlike her morning with the little kids Emily had posed her workshops with the older girls as a discussion more then a presentation, allowing the young women before her to share. Her experience told her that these workshops very often resulted in at least one outcry. While there had been no direct report from any of the girls at this point it was exceptionally clear to Emily that all of these girls had seen a lot more then any girl their age should. One was obviously pregnant, likely as far along as Desiree, if not further. A few had visible scars from who-knows-what, one had been reprimanded upon arrival for carrying a bandana in the colour of the biggest neighbourhood gang.

"I'd say a general rule is that if it feels wrong it is." Emily answered a question.

"What if it doesn't?" a small quiet girl on the edge of the group piped up for the first time. "What if the people around you are saying it's wrong but it feels ok?" Emily paused for a moment, taking in the girl's young face marred with stress beyond her years.

"Just ok?" Emily urged her to go on. The girl shrugged.

"There ain't no such thing as Prince Charming in this place. 'Just Ok' is as good as it gets" She shrugged. Emily frowned.

"I've been there" Emily nodded. "It certainly feels that way sometimes, but don't you think you're worth more then 'just OK?'" again the girl shrugged but this time didn't answer. "Let's all make a pact then." Emily suggested, looking back out over the small group in front of her. "Despite how you may have been treated in the past by people who were supposed love you; from this day on we are all worth it." Emily leaned forward, extending her hand in front of her and motioning the girls to do the same. Slowly each of the girls but the one on the edge leaned in to put their hands near Emily's "We all deserve the best; we deserve to be loved and to be respected without any conditions."

As the group broke off into its various cliques Emily moved closer to the girl in the corner. With a smile she seated herself beside her and rested a gentle hand on her arm to stop her from running off. "You want to tell me more about 'Just Ok'?" She asked gently. "It doesn't have to leave this room, but sometimes it helps to talk."

"You won't go talkin'" The girl confirmed. Emily nodded then sat back to wait. After a few moments of silence, after the other girls had moved out of the room, she spoke. "My boyfriend, he's older then me." She shrugged. "So he's just ready for things sooner then me I guess." Emily nodded her understanding but said nothing. "There are rumors that he steps out, that he got a couple other girls pregnant, but he says he's faithful and I believe him. I think."

"You want to believe him." Emily suggested. The girl nodded.

"Yeah." She sighed. "But maybe I can also believe that he did. He wants more from me, ya know? Said he wants to get me pregnant, start a family. Maybe he'd be more serious if we did." Emily's heart broke a little but something went off in her head at the same time.

"You mean like how he's more serious about the other girls who are supposedly pregnant by him?" Emily asked. The girl looked helpless for a moment.

"I guess." She laughed humorlessly. "Even his friends pressure me. They ask when I am gonna do my part and start popping out babies like the other girls in the neighbourhood."

"You're only, what? 15?" Emily asked with concern, her mind traveling back to her own childhood when the pressure this girl was obviously doing her best to resist had proved too much for Emily herself.

"16 last month" The girl answered. "Old enough I guess. Seems like all the girls around here are 'doin their part' these days."

"That's not really a reason." Emily stated with a reassuring smile. "Bringing new life into the world is monumental. It's not something that you should do just because everyone else is doing it." Silence built up around the two women for a few moments as both contemplated the conversation thus far. The young girl feeling even more confused and overwhelmed while Emily pondered if she herself would have been swayed by such a conversation when she was 15. "All these girls in the neighbourhood you've been talking about, they have whole lives ahead of them and yet they need to put another first. You've got more living to do."

"Right" the girl snorted. "Half of them give them up and continue like nothing ever happened." With a slight snarl she tipped her head toward the pregnant teen gossiping with her friends just outside the doorway. "Tanya over there gets a nine month long stay in a nice apartment with her Mama and all her medical bills paid for by the rich folks across town who want her baby. She brags about it all the time."

"Really?" Emily's eyes bugged out despite her attempts to keep her face calm. "Who set that up for her?"

"Dunno anything but rumors" The girl dismissed but Emily caught the edge in the girl's voice as she hovered over the word 'rumor', her drawl drawing an obvious connection between the rumors of her boyfriend's activities and the rumors of her peer's condition. Gently Emily rubbed a hand over the young woman's shoulders and let out a sigh.

"Either way, it's not worth it" She coaxed. "Wait until you're ready to bring a child into a happy home yeah?" A practiced adolescent shrug was the only reply Emily got; the issue was obviously closed to further discussion.

As the afternoon drew along Emily did her best to put the young woman out of her mind, internally compelling herself to let go and hope their talk had made a difference. This was exactly why she hated the education and outreach part of their jobs, it was almost impossible not to become attached and invested. Derek seemed to notice her distraction as they grabbed a take away dinner and made their way back to the Morgan residence but he did his best to keep the chatter light and not push her for details. She laughed along through dinner, his sisters regaling her with stories of their misspent youth, shared a few quiet moments with Fran as she helped to wash up after dinner, but all along something nagged at her.

While the media would like everyone to believe otherwise, there actually wasn't a great epidemic of young women going out and getting pregnant before society deemed them 'old enough'. Emily knew from her own research and experience that the only difference between now and 20 years ago was hype, a greater number of people talking about teen pregnancy, while the actual number of teen pregnancies in relation to population hadn't changed all that drastically. She also knew that the incidence of these types of situations went up among minority populations but her mind simply could not wrap itself around the phenomenon the young girl at the youth center had alluded to.

TO BE CONTINUED!


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters or Criminal Minds. If I did it would be so different and yet so much the same.

SUMMARY: An injured Prentiss join's Morgan and his family for Fran's birthday and stumbles on a twisted UnSub terrorizing the young mothers of Chicago.

NOTE: This story takes place sometime after the season 7 opener but does not follow cannon. Thanks so much for reading! As always, reviews are a writer's fuel so make sure to tell me what you think.

*CM*

Morning light found the Morgan children around the breakfast table laughing over their plans for Fran's birthday surprise. They instantly silenced when Emily walked in the room.

"If the government trusts me with top level classified information, you lot can trust me with your surprise party" She laughed, moving over to the coffee pot to pour a cup.

"We thought you were Mama." Sarah laughed. Emily leaned back against the counter and watched as the three siblings whispered to each other to confirm the plan.

"Fran Morgan is one lucky woman" Emily told them. She tried to keep her face cheerful but when she caught Derek's eyes she knew he'd seen her sadness. "You are all so lucky to have each other" she added. "I never had this" she motioned at the three of them.

"You will" Derek told her firmly, moving over to lean against the counter beside her. "One day you'll have a whole mess of kids scheming away in your kitchen while you sleep in on your birthday."

"Somehow I doubt that, but thanks" Emily shrugged then changed the subject. "Is there anything I can help you guys with?"

"Actually yes." Desi spoke up, "I have an ultrasound in an hour, do you think you could come with me?" Emily looked shocked, and from the looks of Derek and Sarah they hadn't expected the question either. "That way our surprise can be a surprise for everyone." the girl smiled.

"You're finding out the sex of the baby." Emily smiled as she caught on.

"No." Desi laughed. "You're finding out the sex of the baby and revealing it to all of us over Mama's birthday dinner tonight." she clarified, as if it were obvious.

To say that Emily was honored to be a part if this moment was an understatement; sitting in the bright waiting room of the community clinic she couldn't help but wonder at how the Morgan's had opened their home, hearts, and family to her in just a few days, suddenly Derek's warmth and his caring nature made so much sense and not for the first time she wonders what kind of person she would be if she'd had the same warmth within her own family.

Emily's eyes flit about the waiting area. The clinic offered walk in hours as well as family check ups and prenatal care and the waiting room reflected that. A green looking man sat glassy eyed next to a family with young children covered in itchy looking spots in the small sick area across the room. On the side where Emily and Desi sat were patients waiting for scheduled check-ups. One boy sporting a green cast on his arm, an older woman with a freezer bag of medications to sort out with her doctor, a young girl with a tiny infant in a car seat and another pregnant woman with her partner.

Emily's eyes settled on the infant in the car seat, watching its little feet squirming and its tiny head move back and forth searching out a face or something interesting to look at. The young mother looked scared Emily noticed, and the way she had set the car seat with the baby facing away from her struck the profiler as odd.

"Your baby is very sweet" Emily smiled at the girl. "How old?"

"He's two weeks" the young woman answered briskly without looking at her.

"A boy, congratulations!" Emily offered. But again the woman looked uninterested. Emily frowned. "Does he have a name?"

"Not yet" she sighed. "I can't decide." Emily was shocked and the profiler in her was now sure that something was definitely wrong here.

"Is everything ok?" the drop in Emily's voice made Desi shift beside her, it was the same tone Emily had used when questioning her about her baby's father, the same gentle tone she imagined the woman took with victims. The young mother shifted as well, obviously caught off guard that this stranger seemed to care. "I am an FBI agent" Emily said. Trying to earn the woman's trust. "I am a profiler, I study behaviour, and the way you won't look at your baby, the fact you haven't named him, the way you keep looking at the door, it tells me that you're afraid something bad is going to happen. I just want to know why you think that, maybe I can help." still the woman seemed unsure but Emily's mention of being in law enforcement seemed to put her at ease.

"It's nothing" she insists. "Just a little trouble with the baby's father. It's nothing I can't handle." Emily nodded sadly in understanding.

"What's your name?" Emily asks.

"Keisha"

"Keisha, I know it can be hard to ask for help, nobody likes to feel like they need it. If you change your mind though, I want you to call me." Emily pushed her card into the young woman's shaking hand just as a nurse called Desi's name. "I have to go now" the girl nodded but avoids Emily's gaze, something has her spooked and Emily feels an uncomfortable tingle in her stomach. The kind of tingle usually related to a drastic twist in the middle of a case.

All of those thoughts left her the moment Emily glimpsed the fussy pulsing image on the ultrasound tech's screen. The round shadow of the baby's head and the surprisingly detailed sight of five perfect tiny fingers beside it caused a thumping ache in her chest so sharp it was like she'd been punched. Would it ever be her baby on a screen like this one?

"Your file says you want to know the sex?" the tech confirmed, moving the wand up higher on Desi's belly to where the telling anatomy would be found.

"Yes" Desi answered with a tearful smile. "But don't say it out loud please, I want you to write it down and hand it to my friend, Emily"

Emily grinned. Over breakfast the responsibility of being trusted with this information had been overwhelming, touching yes, but also totally overwhelming. Now she couldn't help the surge of pride and belonging that welled up, it was a warmth in her belly that felt soothing and safe. The torn-off corner of paper the tech thrust into her hand was the most precious gift she can ever remember receiving, and it took every ounce of training she had in her not to blurt out her secret with excitement. With a big toothy smile at Desi and some dramatic flare Emily crumpled the paper into a tiny ball and pretended to swallow it. She would casually let it drop from her sleeve into the waste paper bin as she left.

"There you have it" Emily grinned. "I now possess a secret that will have Derek Morgan wrapped around my finger all day."

"Oh Emily, you already have that power." Desi drawled. "You just haven't realized it" at Emily's blush Desi's grin grew wider. "Or could it be that you already know you're just in too much denial to take advantage?"

"Is there anything else to report?" Emily asked the tech by way of avoiding that particular conversation with Derek's sister.

"Nope, everything looks fine to me but my copies and measurements will be sent to your physician to make any actual diagnosis. I am just a tech." she shrugged. "do you want a print out?"

"Yes!" both women chanted together.

On the way back to Fran's apartment Emily left Desi staring googly-eyed at her sonogram print out in the car while she ran into a bakery to pick up a birthday cake. She smirked to herself as she lowered it into the trunk of Desi's car. She had instructions to pick out a nice looking chocolate cake and have the baker quickly personalize it with decorative writing, but something in the display case had caught her eye, something she just knew would be perfect for the occasion.

The outside of the cake was standard white icing with the scrawling words "happy birthday granny" on top. The Morgan children had thought the words would be a playful tease, something that would annoy their mother, but underneath the frosting the inside of the cake would be either pink or blue revealing the sex of her first grandchild and Emily had a pretty good idea that the effect would be touching rather than teasing.

"Did you give Derek my message?" said a voice behind her. Emily spun around from the trunk and came face to face with Rodney Harris.

"I am sorry, who are you?" Emily asked with a squint. Knowing that Rodney's inflated ego would make him furious at the insinuation that he hadn't made his point.

"Bitch" he scoffed at her, trying to play it cool but Emily could see his fists clenching. "I guess its better that way. He won't know what hit him when I rip his family apart."

"Let me make something abundantly clear to you." Emily sneered stepping into Rodney's personal space. "You harm a single hair on any Morgan head I will end you."

"I ain't scared of no little girl" Rodney laughed, his putrid breath in Emily's face.

"I ain't no ordinary little girl" Emily stared the tall man down for a count of 10 steamboats in her head before turning and getting back into the car.

"Who were you talking to back there?" Desi asked, trying to twist and look behind them but her belly was in the way. "I couldn't get a good look."

"Just some guy asking for change" Emily shrugged, sending the girl a calming smile. "Shall we go give your mother the best birthday ever?"

TO BE CONTINUED!

Let me know what you think! Reviews are love!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or anything Criminal Minds related. I am just playing with them.

Author's note: Still going strong with this one, I am really enjoying writing it so I hope you're all enjoying it. This chapter is a little fluffy, but the next will have more action. Please let me know what you think.

*CM*

The fact that the Morgan's had their own birthday song didn't surprise the profiler in Emily at all. She knew that Derek's father passed away so close to Christmas that the normally joyous holiday would have taken on a sadder meaning for such a close family, so to recapture a sense of celebration and connection they had created extra tradition and meaning around the birth date of their matriarch.

Emily sets her small cake down in the middle of the table with a flourish as the song comes to and end. She adds her own happy birthday wish and hands Fran a card the Morgan children had all signed for her.

The older woman chuckled at the cake's icing inscription and gave her children a mock glare, she was about to chastise them properly when a small paper fell from the card she was opening, landing face-up on the table in front of her.

"An ultrasound photo" Fran smiled wide. "A new one, I thought you were going to wait?" she asked. Emily shifted nervously suddenly aware that she'd been privy to an event the new grandmother would have wanted to be part of.

"I had one this morning." Desi explained, watching her mother's eyes gloss over with happy tears as she stared at the blurry image. The pregnant woman gave Emily an obvious look, her cue to reveal their big surprise to the eagerly waiting family.

"I had strict instructions to find you a chocolate cake" Emily started quietly. Then she cleared her throat as Fran and her children looked at her intently. "But I found something better." she smiled. "Right now, no one but me knows the sex of the baby, but whenever you're ready you can cut into your cake and if it's a boy the inner cake will be blue, if it's a girl it will be pink."

Fran Morgan's face lit up like a thousand watt light bulb as Emily explained and eagerly look the knife from her outstretched hand. The woman paused over the cake for a moment and Emily felt a warm hand snake around her waist. She looked up to find Derek pulling her into a tight side hug.

"It's blue!" Fran Morgan squealed breaking Derek and Emily from their moment. "It's blue! It's a boy!"

The Morgan women let out happy cheers and hugged each other while Derek let out a loud whoop of excitement with an accompanying fist pump. "Thank god!" he joked. "I don't think I could have taken any more estrogen flying around in this family." Emily punched him in the arm. Derek ignored her and moved to speak directly with his sister's bulging abdomen. "We are gonna have so much fun together, I'll take you to see the Bears play and teach you to throw a football, and the proper way to eat a deep dish pie from Stan's..." Desi laughed and pushed him away.

"You'd have done all that with a little girl too" she laughed. Derek nodded and laughed along.

Emily said her own congratulations before sneaking away to the kitchen to, as best she could with her wrist still out of whack, start clearing away the disaster zone Derek and Sarah had created while preparing their main course. She could hear the family in the next room still talking excitedly and throwing possible names around. They commented on how good the cake was and what an amazing way it was to find out their happy news. It made Emily insanely happy to have been able to make that moment special for them.

Emily jumped as she felt large hands rest just above her hips from behind and nearly let out a very un-fearless-FBI-agent type yelp as they spun her to face Derek's intense gaze. Indignantly she opened her mouth to ask him what exactly he was doing but her words, along with her heart, and really any rational thoughts at all were stopped short by Derek's lips pressed firmly to her own. Emily's good hand moved of its own volition up his hard chest and smoothed over his shoulder before cupping the back of his head and neck to pull him closer, her mouth opening to his demanding tongue with a moan.

"Thank you! I think that was just about the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for Mama." Derek murmured breathlessly as they broke apart, his dark eyes meeting hers. "Thank you so much"

"You said that already" Emily smiled.

"What you did back there, making that reveal so perfect for us. That'll go down in Morgan family legend as one of the best days of our lives." He told her seriously. "I don't think it's any big secret to anyone that I like you, Emily, I've wanted you for a long time, but watching you do something so amazing and loving for my family..." Derek's speech cut off, suddenly unsure of himself. Emily watched his mouth move soundlessly as he tried to find the right words and she let herself kiss his damp swollen lips again, short and sweet this time he returned the pressure and offered her another smile of thanks before finally continuing. "I didn't think it was possible but, Em, I just fell even more deeply in love with you than I already was." he grunted into her lips.

The confession caught Emily off guard and she froze against him. She'd been expecting the 'L' words 'like' and 'lust', those were words and feelings that a guy like Derek Morgan used, words and feelings that a girl like Emily was flattered and giddy to have awarded to her by him. She hadn't been expecting love. Her eyes show her disbelief and she found herself eyeing his lips, desperately hoping that he'd say it again, that she'd be able to watch his mouth form the words and maybe then she'd be able to accept them as reality. Instead his lips form awkwardly around an apology, making excuses for his confession - too much wine, too much excitement- and Emily feels her heart drop. Thinking maybe he hadn't meant it after all, or that maybe she'd imagined his words.

But then he was kissing her again and it certainly felt like he meant it. His heart was pounding fast against his chest so hard that she could feel it in her own where her breasts were pressed into his muscular front, his tongue was searching her mouth so deeply and with such care that Emily was sure her head would explode with the intensity of it all. His hands were gliding so softly, so tenderly over her body, caressing her hips, back, shoulders and neck that Emily's body began to hum and her gut tighten.

"Derek" she sighed his name, the breath of it fanning out over his cheek. He kissed her again to shush her.

"I don't want you to say anything, Emily, I know it's a lot right now" he tells her. "But maybe we could start with a date? Tomorrow. We can spend the day together."

"Ok" Emily breaths "That sounds really nice" The two agents are grinning at each other ridiculously when they suddenly hear applause behind them. Emily groans her embarrassment and hides her face in Derek's chest while he turns to glare at his mothers and sisters.

"Do you mind!" Derek snapped at them, afraid their presence, however supportive, would scare Emily away. One thing is glaringly obvious in his head right now, and that is that he can't loose her, not now.

"Not at all!" Fran grinned. "I think it's about damn time!"

The next morning Emily walked by the empty couch expecting to find Derek drinking coffee at the kitchen table but she found only Fran. She smiles her good morning and moves to the coffee maker quietly. Emily had beaten a hasty retreat the previous evening, promising Derek that she'd be up bright and early before slipping up the stairs and into the guest room.

"Mrs. Morgan?" Emily asked as she slipped into the chair across from the older women, holding her coffee tightly in both hands like a life line.

"Yes dear?" the older woman answers distantly, pulling out a section of her paper and offering it to Emily. The brunette smiles as she realizes that the woman has given her the crossword.

"Do you mind if... Could I maybe... "Normally articulate, Emily falters."Can I ask you about your husband?" she finally bit out. Fran was surprised by the question but didn't seem offended. She nodded her consent with a tiny sad smile. "Did you ever wonder when you first got together and he was a rookie cop, if it was worth it?" Emily's tired scared eyes stay on the table in front of her as she asks.

"All the time" Fran smiled. "I nearly left him once, just before we got married." she confessed. "A man, a john, cut his arm with a knife while Sam had been protecting the john's battered prostitute. Just like the day he died he hadn't even been on duty. He had been on his way home from the precinct and I told him when he finally made it home that I didn't want to marry a hero because women who married heroes ended up as widows." She chuckled sadly.

"I love your son, Mrs. Morgan." Emily confessed. "I tried really hard not too but here we are. And it's hard enough watching him put himself in harms way day after day as his partner and his friend. I am afraid I won't be able to handle it once I know what it's like actually being with him" Fran nodded sadly.

"I guess that's why they have rules about that kind of thing." the thought made Emily's stomach roll. She liked her job; she liked doing her job with Derek, yet the chance to claim something more was irresistible.

"I am not any better you know" Emily chuckled. "We practically race each other into the fire. One of us is going to end up broken hearted one way or another" She felt Fran's warm hand rest atop her own on the table.

"Two weeks after I tried to leave, Sam and I were married." Fran tells her with a smile. "The years we had together, the family we created, every single moment was worth it. A piece of me died with him and the pain was, is, debilitating, but I don't for a minute regret a single second that we had."

"Thanks" Emily says as she reaches out to dry a tear from the older woman's face then clasped her hand in both of hers. "That's pretty much exactly what I needed to hear." She let out a shaky breath and sipped her coffee again. There is no denying that Emily was nervous, not to mention exhausted. She'd been up all night replaying the kiss, his words, the whole evening in her mind in one breath, then scrambling for a way out with the next. Flip flopping between excitement and happiness to anxiety that taking that happiness could mean giving up a job she'd worked damn hard for and fear that she would end up like Fran Morgan who loved deeply and smiled easily but who's heart was gaping and wounded causing long sad frowns to grace her features whenever she thought no one was looking.

The sound of the apartment door opening and slamming shut broke both women from their thoughts. Derek and Sarah can be heard bickering in the entrance over which of them would be better suited to surviving on a deserted island. They enter the kitchen with something delicious smelling in a large paper bag.

"Fresh bagels!" Derek announced with a grin, a grin which falters when he picks up the heavy air between the women at the table. "Is everything ok?" he asked, suddenly anxious.

"Yes" Fran answered thickly. "We were just talking about your father." Derek nods his understanding and wraps his mother in his arms. "He would have loved Emily you know." Derek smiles sadly at the thought and finally meets Emily's shy gaze.

"You'd have liked dad too." he told her. "You have the same sense of humor"

"I wish I could have met him" Emily chuckled. "He sounds like an amazing man."

"He was" Sarah answered, laying a comforting hand on her mother who was still tucked neatly into her son's arms. After a few long moments she changed the subject. "Where's Desi? I saw a sale on baby clothes on the way back and now that we know it's a boy we can go crazy on tiny sneakers and clever onsies!"

"Still sleeping I think." Fran answered, pulling away from her children to pull out plates and knives for the bagels.

"So..." Derek says to Emily as Sarah runs up the stairs to wake her sister. "Are you still on board for our date today?" He seems almost shy, certainly not a look Emily has ever seen on Derek Morgan before. She shares a look with Fran and smiles.

"yes." she says clearly as a momentary shot of confidence fills her. "Just tell me where we're going so I know what to wear." Derek eyes her dark jeans and deep red sweater greedily.

"You look just fine to me, princess" He smirks at the blush spreading over Emily's cheeks then grabs a fresh bagel. "Now eat up so we can get going." he winks at her.

*CM*

To be continued! Thanks everyone for your continued support of this story. This summer is slaying me with so much going on but I am still working on this. Though you may be able to tell that the editing process has been a little hasty. Sorry for the typos and errors!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Note: I totally dropped an F bomb in this chapter. Just one. I don't think that's enough to change the rating but I just thought I'd warn ya.

*CM*

"A football game?" Emily tried really hard to keep her voice neutral but her delicately arched eyebrow gave her away.

"A football game" Derek confirms with a smile, pulling his skeptical friend closer to him on the bleachers. "Well, it's actually a football practice, but it'll be just as exciting." This information explains to Emily why they seem to be two of only a dozen or so spectators scattered around the field.

"I don't know anything about football" Emily reminds him.

"I know" he says, "I can teach you." Emily laughs and rolls her eyes.

"Somehow sitting out here for hours in the freezing cold while you explain the game to me in that condescending tone you always use about such things doesn't sound very romantic to me." Derek gives her a cocky grin and pulls her closer still, until she is pressed firmly into his hard chest.

"But I brought hot chocolate, and a blanket to snuggle under." He winks, and Emily melts. The truth is she doesn't really care where they go or what they do today; she is just excited to spend it with Derek, and anticipating another kiss like the one the shared the night before. Emily is about to initiate such a kiss when she hears someone calling out to Derek from the field.

"Damien!" Derek calls back with a smile as a young man runs up to them in full football pads; his helmet clenched under one arm.

"So glad you could make it." Damien says, greeting Derek with a fist bump and a quick embrace. "Coach says there will be scouts at the next game so I'll take any notes you got after practice."

"Sure thing Man." Derek grins before wrapping his arm around Emily's waist and pulling her close. "This is Emily" he introduces. "She'll be learning a thing or two about football today so make it good" He winks at Emily and she punches him in the arm.

"Damn, Morgan" the boy says with a grin and playful a leer. "One day you'll have to show me how to get such a hot date." Emily blushes, Derek gently slaps the kid on the shoulder, but Damien's face has gone from joking to timid. "Hey Derek, can I ask you a favor?" he asks. "I mean, I know you went out if your way to come here today but my sister is in a bit of trouble and you're the only person I can think of to ask."

"Anything" Derek nods eagerly. Damien shoots a nervous look at Emily but Derek reassures him. "Emily works with me at the FBI, you can trust her."

"She had a baby." Damien says slowly.

"Well congratulations, man, I am about to become an uncle myself" Derek tells him, he knows the boys sister is older, maybe a bit young to start a family but old enough to handle the responsibility. It's obvious he's confused about what Damien's favor will be.

"He's gone." Damien continues, unsure about how exactly to go about telling his story. "The baby, she called him Nate and he would be about 6wks old now but he's gone."

"What do you mean 'gone'" Derek asks, Emily feels her heart sinking.

"Someone took him." Damien says, anger boiling over in his previously deep and gentle voice. "Dana's beside herself and the police are giving up. It's been a week and a half and they say..."

"The longer he's gone the less chance they have of finding him." Derek nods his understanding. "That's awful, Damien, I can't imagine what you and your family are going through." Damien clears his throat trying to hold back his emotion and remain strong in front of his hero.

"I think the father may have something to do with it." The young man continues, seeming to find his strength again. "Dana won't tell me exactly who it is, but I am fairly certain it's one of the gang bangers that hang out on my block."

"Why do you think that?" It's Emily who poses the question. Her mind has snapped into profiler mode, her gut twisting with each new bit of information.

"Dana had said that the father didn't want the baby, he just brushed her off. At first I was mad as hell that some guy could just wash his hands of her like that but I figure if he's that kind of guy he's got no place being a father anyways." It is obvious that Damien has rehearsed this story. That he's been turning it over in his mind waiting for a chance to tell his hero. "But after Nate was born she started getting phone calls at the house. The same number each time but if anyone but Dana answered they'd just hang up. The calls really upset her but she wouldn't talk about it with me or my mom. But I know she's been researching custody laws on our computer so I figured maybe the father was trying to see Nate."

"How did Nate go missing?" Emily pressed. She felt Derek giving her a confused look but ignored him.

"Dana had taken him to the clinic for a check-up and then stopped at the corner store to pick up some milk on her way home. She set him down in his car seat to pay at the till and someone scooped him up and ran." the boys knuckles were white with the force of his clenching fists and tears threatened his eyes.

"Damien, I am so sorry man" Derek consoles but he knows it's no use.

"That's not all." the boy bites out in a voice thick with the threat of tears. "I don't think Nate is the first. A guy on my team says his cousin lost a baby just like Nate about a year ago... They never found her."

With a sad smile and a few gentle words of condolence Emily slipped away from Derek and Damien and pulled out her phone. All thoughts of a sweet relaxing day exploring her new intimacy with Derek were completely forgotten the moment she's heard his young friend's story. Emily had spent the last few days convincing herself that her job was making her crazy that she was simply creating serial patterns where none existed. She thought of Rodney's threats and Keisha's terrified eyes, thought of the tiny life in Desiree Morgan's womb pulsing fuzzily on the ultrasound screen.

"Talk nerdy to me" came the cheerful voice of Penelope Garcia in Emily's ear.

"Hey Pen. I need a favor." She jumped in.

"Does it involve finding a list of romantic date spots in Chicago so you can seduce a certain chocolate Adonis?" Garcia asked a smirk evident in her voice.

"What! No." Emily tried to steady the panic in her at the thought that Garcia might already know what she and Derek were only just figuring out; she had more important things on her mind. "I need you to look up missing infant cases in Chicago going back a year or so."

"I thought you were on vacation?" Garcia asked, but Emily could already hear the tech's fingers flying across the keyboard to fill her request.

"Sick leave, actually. But something came up." Emily said.

"I'll say this is weird." the blonde gasped. "I've got 8 missing infants in the past 12 months, all snatched in broad daylight within a 15 block radius."

"8!" Emily gasped. She had been expecting the two they'd just heard about, maybe three, but eight?

"Make that 9 my darling" Garcia corrected. Emily could hear a beeping alarm coming from one of Garcia's screens. "Another baby went missing late last evening, and his mother was beaten to death."

"Has the Chicago PD made a connection yet?" Emily wondered aloud.

"Yes, in fact they've asked for our help and the file has been included in the schedule for our morning briefing. Small world huh?" A few moments of frenzied tapping passed before the tech spoke again. "I've just sent what I have to your PDA. I'll let the team know you've already sniffed out a trail and we'll meet you there."

"Thanks PG, Morgan and I will get caught up and meet you at the precinct when you get here." She hung up and turned to find Derek standing behind her. "I guess you heard it's a BAU case. Team's on their way."

"What aren't you telling me?" Derek's arms crossed over his chest and his eyes darkened with suspicion.

"I had a little run in with some guy on the street. He said a few things, and I'd been picking up some weird vibes around your neighbourhood." she shrugged. "I thought I was just making up patterns in my head because I work too much."

"A 'run in'?" Derek repeated, obviously not amused. "With who?"

"A man called Rodney. He didn't seem like anyone to worry about and I didn't want to upset you so I didn't mention it." She defended before he could ask. His eyes clouded in anger.

"Just like that?" He drawled. "Just didn't mention it?" Emily swallowed and looked away. "What did he say?" Emily bit her lip. Derek's voice dipped lower, taking on the intimidating tone he used with suspects. "What did he say, Emily?"

"He made a threat." She told him quietly, knowing that his anger would only grow when she revealed the whole story. She could already sense the accusation in his stare.

"Against who?" Derek bit out.

"Desi's baby." Emily stared down at her feet bracing herself for the storm she knew was coming. She didn't have to wait long.

"Are you kidding me!" he asked, arms flying up in frustration and disgust. "A gang banger on the street is making threats against my family and you didn't think I needed to know?"

"I asked Desi about him, she told me who he was and I thought he was just trying to mess with you." She told him. "I didn't want you to be upset."

"Ya know what, Prentiss?" Derek fumed. "Considering your track record with keeping secrets to protect me, i'd've thought you'd know better by now."

"Ya know what, Morgan?" Emily snapped. "I didn't want to worry you over nothing, but as soon as I had confirmation that it wasn't 'nothing' I told you about it. This..." she motioned between them. "Isn't going to work between us if you can't trust me."

Emily stormed off, not wanting Derek to see how much his accusations had hurt her. The man was absolutely infuriating, a great man, a good kisser, her best friend, but obviously that wasn't going to be enough. She cursed the tears that burned down her cheeks, cursed how stupid she was to think an intimate relationship would fix any of the damage done in recent months, cursed Derek Morgan for being so fucking irresistible.

When she found her way back to the main road she quickly hailed down a cab and gave the driver Fran Morgan's address. She would pack her go-bag and stay with the team at their hotel for the remainder of her stay in Chicago. She would figure out what was happening to all those infants and make sure Desi's baby was safe, and then she would forget that the Morgan family had ever welcomed her in and allowed her a tiny taste of what it was to really be loved because going any further with Derek would surely be a huge mistake.

Fran was the only one around when Emily arrived, her daughters having gone to do a little shopping, and for that Emily was grateful. The older woman only smiled understandingly at her and offered a cup of tea and an ear to listen, making Emily's heart ache painfully in her chest. She hates to think that she's letting Fran Morgan down by not being the women her son seemed to want her to be.

"Something has come up and I need to go back to work." Emily tells her by way of declining the offer.

"And you somehow managed to convince Derek to stay behind while you do that?" Fran asks with a tone of disbelief.

"No, I am sure he'll be right behind me" Emily slipped up the stairs and into the guest room as quickly as she could and started throwing her things in her bag. She wished she had time to linger over the heartwarming photo faces of the Morgan family one last time but the last thing she wants is to confront Derek here, or anyplace where the comfortable masks of professionalism wouldn't shield her from his disappointment.

As she is leaving the building and climbing back into her waiting cab she nearly jumps out of her skin when a voice whispers her name in her ear. She immediately regrets the reaction because she can see that Rodney is looking particularly proud of himself for having snuck up on her.

"Not leaving so soon are ya white girl?" He laughs. "Derek always did have trouble holding onto his women." Rodney's mirth quickly fades as he hears a familiar click, he looks down to find himself cuffed.

"Rodney," she tells him icily. "I am sure you're a really great guy underneath all the peacocking, egomania, and overcompensation but I have absolutely no patience for your games"

"What the hell!" Rodney scoffs.

"I am bringing you in as a person of interest." Emily announced before shoving him into the back of her cab. The driver looked less than pleased at having a cuffed gang member in the back of his car but said nothing when Emily stuffed a few large bills into the collection tray.

"This can't be legal." Rodney huffed. Emily shrugged.

"I am sure there's an open warrant for your arrest in the system somewhere" she told him, flipping out her cell phone to check the team's ETA. "I could read you your rights if it would make you feel better."

"You're a cop too?" Emily didn't reply.

*CM*

To be continued!

Remember to leave a review!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of it's characters. I am writing this for entertainment purposes only.

Authors note: Back in the saddle here. This summer has turned out to be a million times busier than I intended but hopefully life will slow down a bit now

*CM*

To Emily's relief the team came barreling through the doors of the precinct only seconds after Derek. The look he'd given her was painful enough; Emily had no intention of finding out what he had to say. Tightly she explained about Rodney Harris's continued harassment of her since get arrival and his threats against the Morgan family.

"Thanks Prentiss" Hotch says with a nod before efficiently doling out assignments. "You and Rossi go check out the latest crime scene then catch up with the coroner. Reid. The geographic profile looks pretty straight forward but I'd like you to take a look anyways. JJ and Morgan I want you to go through what we have and pull any witness statements or security footage of the kidnappings. I will have the locals help me question Mr. Harris."

"Hotch!" Derek starts to protest but before it has formed Aaron Hotchner is silencing it with a severe look and calm tones.

"The man's making threats against your little sister and her unborn child, Morgan, no one in their right mind would believe letting you into an interrogation with him is a good idea."

"Ok" Derek agrees reluctantly "but desk work?" he pleads. Everyone knows that Derek Morgan did his best work on the move.

Emily tries not to feel bad for him as she turns to leave with Rossi, though when she catches his eye briefly she knows an apology must have been written on her face. She sees his features soften slightly and is almost relieved, but it is momentary. His face turns back to stone after only a fleeting moment and a cold shoulder is tipped her way.

To her surprise Rossi doesn't start his interrogation until they are over half way to the crime scene. He watches her though, his expert gaze burning into Emily so intensely that by the time he does speak she's practically praying for him to start.

"You look a lot better then last I saw you." The older man observed. "That Morgan home cooking I always hear about as good as they say?"

"Yeah, it's pretty great" Emily shrugs, bracing for his first prying blow.

"You've grown closer to the Morgan family" Emily send him an irritated glance, wondering when he'll come on out and ask what he wants to know so that she can shut him down and move on. As much as she has appreciated her mentor's ear in the past she has no intention of sharing the details of her week with anyone.

"They were very hospitable" She deflects easily, relieved when the cool GPS voice informs her they are approaching their destination.

"Is that what they call it these days?" Rossi jibed. He holds his hands in mock surrender as the SUV slows and Emily comes to a stop in front of a run down looking apartment building. "I just noticed a few… sparks is all I am saying." He insisted before making his escape from the vehicle.

Emily shrugs him off as best she can and follows behind as they are led by local police into a tiny basement apartment. The building is not much more than a slum but the unit they enter is as well kept as can be expected considering the conditions. A small half kitchen seems tidy and well organized, stained carpets look recently vacuumed, and it looks as though their victim had been in the process of folding heaping mounds of laundry when she was interrupted. Emily glances at the small mattress and bassinette in the corner where a mobile and a few stuffed animals looked lovingly placed and maintained. This was a woman who was doing her best, a good mother, that much was certain.

"We're still canvassing the rest of the building" Lieutenant Carson who'd shown them in was saying. "Not sure how much help it will be, not many tenants willing to talk."

"Keep us updated" Rossi nodded, doing his own observation of the suit as Emily's eyes finally came to rest on the prone form in the center of it. From under the covering she could see marks on the floor where the victim has clawed at the carpet, crawling along in a desperate attempt to follow whoever had taken her baby.

"She fought hard" Emily commented then pushed the sheet slightly to get a look at the phone in the body's lifeless hand. "Tried to call for help."

"We found this" Carson said, handing an evidence bag over with a sad frown. "Did you know her?" Emily looked confused for a moment before ice filled her veins as she looked down at what had been handed to her.

"My card." She said dumbly. Quickly she knelt to pull back the crime scene covering to see the girl's face. "Keisha"

"Keisha Smith" The cop supplied "according to the mail and the dodgy looking tenant records the landlord gave us. We haven't found much on that name though; we're thinking it's a fake."

"Run away?" Rossi asked, noticing that the girl didn't seem to me much older then 16 or so. The cop shrugged.

"I met her yesterday" Emily said. "She looked scared, I though she could use someone to talk to, maybe some legal help. She said she was having trouble with the baby's father."

"Who will be tough to track down if we can't even figure out who this girl really is." Carson pointed out.

"Where did you meet her yesterday? We could start there." Rossi suggested.

"The community clinic, I was with Derek's sister in the waiting room and struck up a conversation about the baby." Emily explained. "She hadn't even named him yet, she seemed afraid he would disappear at any moment." Cringing at her own choice of words Emily shrugged helplessly and looked around. "I should have tried harder to help her"

"There's no way you could have known." Rossi soothed.

"I knew" Emily shook her head. "I knew she was in danger, I knew there was something weird going on here. I didn't trust my gut and it got this girl killed."

"Well we're here now. We'll stop whoever is doing this and we'll find Keisha's baby."

*CM*

Derek sighed heavily as he read the same sentence over again for the third time. He didn't know how much more paper work he could take, he didn't know how many more predators his community could survive, he didn't know how much more emotional drama his team could take before this second family started to show the strain.

"Would you stop clicking that pen." He snapped at Reid who sat staring intensely at a map of Chicago. Without breaking his focus the young genius shrugged and let the pen in his hand fall with a soft thud onto the desk he was perched on. Derek sighed again. He's been sat here for well over an hour watching the eccentric Dr. Reid work while JJ had escaped the same fate with a few media calls.

"What can you tell me about this block right here" Reid asked after a long silence in which Derek had moved on to another case file while still internally lamenting his current assignment. "It's only point seven kilometers from your mother's home."

"Not much" Derek shrugged stamping down a sharp churn in his stomach as he realized the street Reid was pointing to. "A main drag for the neighbourhood; barber shop, community clinic, convenience store." The same convenience store where Derek's father had given his life to protect and serve.

"It seems to be at the center of our case." Reid informed. Derek laughed.

"That's because it's in the center of the community. Our UnSub lives there, we knew that already." If the young doctor was offended my Derek's dismissal he didn't show it, merely picked up the pen he had dropped and drew an 'X' on the map.

"Are their any other clinics in the area?" Reid asked then scrawled in his hurried messy script over a few more points as Derek rattled off a few cross streets. Again silence descended on the room as Reid took in the new information and Derek went back to his file. Emily had told him once that she found Reid's quiet intensity almost relaxing, but where she felt the soothing warmth of that intensity Derek felt only raging boredom.

Carefully he eyed the door to the interrogation room where Hotch and a local agent were talking to Rodney Harris. His body twitched with the overwhelming urge to join them but he knew that he needed to tread carefully with Hotch, that a single wrong move would have him off of this case so fast his head would spin.

Movement at the entrance caught his eye and he heaved yet another sigh. Emily and Rossi were chatting as they entered but despite their casual tones he could see a crease of stress along Emily's brow and in the way her teeth worried at her bottom lip. Instantly he remembered the kiss they'd shared in his mother's kitchen and the easy flirting of the morning. Whatever they'd had for those 12 hours or so had been golden, but his features hardened as he remembered why they were here. She'd lied to him, kept him in the dark despite everything that had happened in the last year, only this time it wasn't her own life at stake, his family was in trouble.

"What did you get at the crime scene?" Reid asked the two agents as they joined them. Derek remained quiet, pretending to be immersed in the file in front of him.

"Keisha Smith" Rossi offered. "It's not her real name but Emily says she talked to her at the community clinic yesterday."

"Interesting" Reid murmured, looking back at his map before launching into his own findings. "There are two clinics and an emergency room in and around the neighbourhood where all these infants have gone missing; together they seem to boarder the geographic profile. Seems significant."

"All of these mothers would have needed prenatal care, and care for their newborns" Emily agreed.

"The only one in the area that provides full prenatal services is the community clinic where you met our victim" Derek offered. "It's a good bet each of these mothers went there through their pregnancies, they may have gone to the others for their newborns though."

"Sounds like a good place to start" Emily shrugged. "Is Hotch still in with Harris?" Reid and Derek nodded at once.

"I'll fill him in when he gets out." Rossi offered, naturally stepping into the leader position in the absence of heir unit chief. "Why don't you take Morgan with you to the clinic, he looks like he's about to crawl out of his skin tied to this desk."

Emily tried not to look startled at the suggestion, simply raising her eyebrows to Derek as if to ask him if he would be any more comfortable alone with her at the moment. She couldn't say that she liked the idea, but for the sake of their jobs she needed to know if they could work together. With a shrug Derek stood and pushed by her, leading the way out to the vehicle.

To Be Continued….

*As always, comments are very much appreciated! I love hearing from ech and every one of you, helps get me writing.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or any of its characters. This story is written for entertainment purposes only.

Author's note: We've now reached the part of the story where my posts have caught up with what I had written, from this point forward you all have about as much idea of what's going to happen as I do. Hope you enjoy!

*CM*

'Awkward' didn't even begin to describe the silence that fell between Derek & Emily as the former took the wheel and headed for the community clinic. Lunch hour traffic left the going slow and the partners gazed out their respective windows with hooded expressions.

"Derek..."

"Emily..."

Nervous laughter flutters around them as they realize they've spoken at the same time.

"Go ahead"

"Go ahead"

"Derek." Emily heaves a sigh. "We can't work like this." Derek goes silent, offering only a curt nod of agreement. "I don't know what to do or say to make this right. For now I just want to solve this case."

"Yeah" Derek agreed quietly.

"Truce?" Emily asked. "Just for this case and then if you want to hate me I get it; we'll figure it out when we get home."

"Truce" Derek agreed heavily. Truth was that although he was angry, still very much stung by her withholding from him, he couldn't help the image that flashed across his mind and heart when she'd spoken the word 'home'. For the first time he didn't think of his mothers tiny flat with his sisters. He thought of Emily in his arms, her contented sigh against his chest, her lips on his -hungry and responsive-. Fleetingly he'd glimpsed what another home could be and despite his hurt he couldn't just let that go. "So long as you're not just saying that. We WILL talk. Soon. As soon as we get back."

"As soon as we get back." Emily agreed quietly.

Silence descended on them quite quickly once more, but this time a little less weighted. Emily discreetly stretched her aching wrist and hand watching the city change around her. Shiny new office buildings turning to older brownstones then empty lots and gang tags. Before long they pulled up in front of the old but well cared for building that housed the community clinic and Emily nearly sighed with relief as Derek fell into step beside her as though it were any other case.

"I am afraid there isn't a lot I can share with you. Patient confidentiality and all that" The young tech, Jason, who had performed Desi's ultrasound, had met them at the door and after a few niceties fed Emily and Derek the line they'd been expecting all along.

"And all that" Emily agreed sarcastically. "But this particular patient is dead now and her baby may be in trouble, any information you can give us about her true identity will help us find her son and make sure he's safe."

"I understand that, Agents" Jason assured, though it didn't take a profiler to be able to detect his detachment. "But this clinic can't help the young people of this community if they can't trust us to keep their information safe."

"Young women are possibly being targeted by a predator here." Derek pointed out, his teeth clenching in frustration. "Helping us find him would be a great help to the community."

"Then come back with a subpoena." Jason replied with frustration.

"That would take time, the longer this baby is missing the less chance we have of finding him." Emily urged gently. She could feel Derek tensing beside her and was trying desperately to stay cool and handle the situation before he blew his top. "I met her the other day when I was here, she seemed scared, you don't need to give us any specifics just yet, but maybe you could shed some light on what she may have been so frightened about."

"There are a lot of reasons to be scared in this neighbourhood." Jason shrugged, "I have work to do." He motioned to the full waiting room. Derek puffed out his chest and moved forward, a growl on his lips but Emily placed a gentle hand on his arm and smiled a smile so diplomatic her mother would have been proud to see it.

"You get back to that; we'll wait in the waiting area for our subpoena to arrive." Wide-eyed she motioned Derek to the waiting area where a number of people sat awaiting their appointments, one of which had caught Emily's recognition. "Is this seat taken?" she asked as she approached the slouched figure of the scared young girl she'd spoken to after her presentation at the community center.

"No" The girl dismissed without looking.

"You mean Mr. Just-Ok isn't with you?" Emily asked as she sat, watching Derek take a seat across the row to listen quietly as he text-messaged Garcia to get them a subpoena. The girl looked up curiously before recognition set in.

"You're that lady from the community center." She observed coolly. "Emily right."

"Yeah, Emily, you never did give me your name the other day." Emily led casually, reaching for a magazine hanging over the arm of her chair.

"It's Steph." The teen grunted. "What are you doing here? Can't rich people like you afford better doctors?"

"We're actually looking into the death of a girl who came here. You may have heard about the babies who have gone missing and the girl who died this morning." Emily told her, observing the way Steph's body language went from gruff and defensive to extremely uncomfortable when Keisha was mentioned.

"There's been some talk" The girl shrugged as casually as she could.

"Did you know her?" Emily asked.

"Keisha Brown?" Steph questioned. "Sure I knew her." Emily sent a look over to Derek where he was furiously texting, no doubt asking Garcia to get everything she could on the name Keisha Brown. "She was one of the sluts hanging out with my man, she tried to tell be he was the father of her baby but I know she was lying, she just wanted money. He's got a good job; it makes him a target around here."

"Steph." Emily nudged noticing suddenly the way the girl cradled her left arm. "What happened to your arm?"

"I fell." Steph grunted. "Good luck with your investigation but I don't think I can help you."

"I think you can" Emily said, placing a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder. "I think you know more about Keisha than you're letting on and I think whoever hurt your arm may be able to tell us more about what happened to her"

"Your crystal ball tell you that?" Steph was getting defensive again. "I told you, I fell"

"How exactly did Keisha tell you your boyfriend was the father of her child?" Emily persisted. "Did she taunt you? Did she spread rumors? Girls can be really cruel with that kind of lie."

"No" Steph drawled, suddenly unsure. "She wasn't cruel at all; she seemed more worried about me."

"Worried why?" Emily pushed.

"I don't know, I guess she was trying to act like my friend to get closer to him." The girl supplied, her chin jutting out with attitude. "Keisha was a piece of work; Jason says she needed mental help, that she was obsessed with him and his friends." The name was common enough but Steph nodded toward the front desk of the clinic where Jason was standing as she spoke, giving him away.

"Jason is your boyfriend?" Emily asked. Steph didn't answer, just slouched further into her chair and looked away. "Steph…" Emily turned to get a better look at the girl but was cut off by a gruff call.

"Steph, are these people bothering you?" Jason was back and looking quite unhappy, Emily watched as Steph's eyes bugged out and her nostrils flared in distress.

"No" She answered quietly then turned to Emily. "I am sorry I can't help you." She rushed then turned back to Jason. "I can't help them." She insisted.

"No problem Stephanie." Jason replied, trying to sound comforting through clenched teeth. "I am ready to take a look at that arm." Steph stood reluctantly and Jason held her good arm as she walked by him, the touch almost looked helpful but Emily didn't miss the wince on Steph's face as his fingers dug into her bicep. "You're free to wait here for your subpoena but please leave our patients alone."

"Excuse me, Jason," Emily followed. "Are you aware that Stephanie here is only 16 years of age?"

"Of course" Jason sneered, but he kept moving, hoping to escape into one of the examination rooms. "It's in her file."

"Stephanie says you're her boyfriend." Emily insisted she could feel Derek behind her, the slip and clink of metal as he drew out his handcuffs, ready for her next move.

"Stephanie is a confused young woman." Jason replied but Emily's words brought him to a stop and sent his fingers digging more violently into Steph's arm. "She's lying." Steph let out a cry, her eyes bugging in disbelief as she gasped at the man holding her.

"None-the-less, you're under arrest for statutory rape of a minor, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…" Derek said swooping in to apprehend the medical tech as Emily stepped in to pull the frightened girl from his grip. As Derek moved away with their scumbag Emily noticed the gawking looks from the other patients in the waiting area.

"I am sorry for the interruption." Emily announced. "I will make sure another employee keeps your appointments running while we deal with this matter." Quickly she pushed Steph into the closest empty examination room and started inspecting her arm. "Are you Ok?"

"That's what he said about Keisha." The girl said wide-eyed.

"Men like that don't usually think much of any woman" Emily soothed. "Is he the one who hurt your arm?" Steph shrugged.

"What's going to happen to him?" She asked Emily wasn't sure if she was asking out of fear or concern.

"Well, my partner will take him for questioning, he will probably get a lawyer and deny everything but if you want to press charges…"

"No" The girl almost shouted. "No, I won't press charges; he's going to be so mad." She cried.

"Steph, we're holding him now, whatever connection he has to the case we're investigating will put him away." Emily soothed. "He can't hurt you anymore."

"Yes he can" Steph sobbed. "Of coarse he can, you don't know what you've done."

"Then tell me!" Emily pleaded taking in the frightened girl, her fat wet tears, the crumpled misery on her face, the way she was still cradling her injured arm. After a few moments the outburst stopped as suddenly as it had all started, the girl taking a deep breath and schooling her features into stone. Emily started as a throat was cleared in the doorway behind her.

"Ms. Klein" A sour looking doctor greeted the girl as he stepped in. "I'll take a look at your arm in a moment, I need a word with the Agent first." Stephanie nodded and pulled herself onto the exam table ignoring Emily's concerned look. Reluctantly Emily followed that doctor back into the corridor.

"I am sorry for the disruption, sir." Emily started. "I am Agent Prentiss, I have just a few more questions and I can be on my way."

"I've known Jason for many years, Agent Prentiss" The doctor said gravely. "Whatever it is you think he's done I am sure you're mistaken."

"Were you aware that he was in a relationship with Stephanie?" Emily asked with a nod back to the door behind them.

"I assure you he was not" The doctor denied easily. "Stephanie is only sixteen, she may have had a crush on our young technician but Jason has never been anything but professional towards the patients here. This is my card, I would be happy to meet you to answer more questions at a later time but your dramatics have put us behind for the day." Emily glanced down at the card he's pushed into her hand.

"Thank you Dr. Greene" She murmured before calling into Stephanie's room. "Steph, if you want someone to stay with you I could…."

"Go away!" The girl shouted angrily. Dr. Greene gave her a petulant smile and closed the exam room door.

Emily cursed under her breath, lingering for a moment, unsure of her next move. It was clear Steph was in danger, it was also clear that she knew a lot more than she was telling about what was happening to this community. Emily didn't want to risk leaving her now but, she realized, she had no immediate recourse, no reason to bring the girl in with her that was urgent enough to delay treatment of her injuries. Could Dr. Greene be trusted? With a sigh Emily headed toward the door of the clinic, deciding that before she did anything she would need to check in with the team. Whatever side Dr. Greene was on, he would be a fool to hurt Steph in that examination room with federal agents poking around.

As the glass door creaked open Emily glanced up to see the SUV running where they'd parked it just up and across the street. Derek could wait she decided as she pulled out her phone with the intention of calling their boss to fill him in and ask for direction. The first dull tone had barely started when a blast of pain exploded from the back of her head and caused her vision to go dark. She heard voices around her but couldn't make out what they were saying, she was fighting hard to keep consciousness when she felt herself being lifted, then dropped into what she could only guess was the trunk of a car. When the engine roared to life course rap music started with it and the great whooshing boom of a subwoofer beside her sent her over the edge of darkness.

TO BE CONTINUED!

Can't wait to hear what you all think of this chapter! I hope to update really soon.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I dot own Criminal Minds or its characters.

Author's note: UGH! I had this chapter ready a week ago and lost it. I am so upset. I feel like it was so perfect and trying to rewrite it from memory was so frustrating. But here we are the next installment. I hope you enjoy it.

*CM*

Derek couldn't decide if he was relieved or disappointed that Jason had clammed up after the reading of his rights. On the one hand he knew that the only way to hold onto the slick son-of-a-bitch was to get him talking, on the other hand Derek knew he needed a few moments to collect his temper before he would be able to conduct himself professionally. The last thing he wanted to do was endanger the investigation. The young man sat arrogantly behind him, shifting slightly to relieve the discomfort of his cuffed hands wedged behind him but looking otherwise unaffected by the turn his afternoon had taken.

Derek sighed, slouched, and glanced down at his phone again. Garcia had gotten them their subpoena and was sending them a few local cops to serve it, so that left him waiting on Emily. They would have to check in with Hotch and depending on what Emily got from Steph after he'd taken Jason away they would likely need to set up some kind of protection for the girl as well. He was itching to get his charge into the interrogation room; his gut told him Jason had a lot more to answer to than an underage girlfriend or even domestic assault.

When his phone revealed no new messages he glanced back up to the rear-view mirror which provided a near perfect view of the clinic doors. Maybe it would be better to send Emily in to the interrogation. It was obvious that Jason didn't think much of women; Emily would use his arrogance as a noose to hang him with.

This time when he glanced back down to his phone it was just in time to hear it ring. "Hey Hotch" Derek answered ready to dive into an explanation of what had happened.

"Is Emily with you?" Their boss's tone cut him off, he sounded almost annoyed. "I think her phone just pocket dialed me."

"No" Derek answered, confused. "I am waiting outside the clinic for her now, she's questioning a possible witness, and I have a suspect in custody."

"I hope this one's more productive." Hotch said. "We've just let Harris go."

"What!?" Derek growled. "Why?" he demanded, struggling to keep his tone respectful.

"We didn't have enough to hold him on. I've assigned a local unit to tail him though, they have orders to bring him right back if he steps even an inch out of line." Hotch reported patiently. "Whatever's going on here he's definitely involved, but I am far from convinced he's acting alone or even giving the orders."

"He's good at being a ganger but this feels too sophisticated" Derek agreed. "What's our next step?"

"See where this new suspect leads us." Hotch said then said his goodbyes and ended the call. Derek glanced again into the rear-view to see if Emily was on her way yet and sighed again as he saw only closed doors.

"I don't know what you think you have on me but it doesn't really sound like you've got a whole lot." Jason said. Derek met his eyes in the mirror and glared as a small smirk lifted the young man's mouth.

"We've got enough" Derek assured him. Jason snorted lightly then looked away, obviously done speaking for the moment. Derek clenched his teeth. The boy was right; he wondered again what was taking Emily so long.

*CM*

The dull room was too bright and it's silence too loud. Emily groaned and tried to turn away from what little light was filtering through the curtained window beside her only to find resistance, her arms were fastened tightly behind her where she leaned against something solid.

Again she tried to open her eyes, squinting to catch some detail that would clue her into what was happening. For a moment the blue curtained kitchen window calmed her, wherever she was she was not tied to a wooden chair in a dank abandoned warehouse about to face past demons. When that moment passed dread filled her, she knew those curtains. This time when her eyes opened she forced them to stay that way, ignoring the pounding ache in her head and the burning of her eyes as they slowly adjusted to the light. Franticly she took in every detail, the cool linoleum under her, the hard wood cupboard behind her, the drip of the leaking sink faucet Derek had promised he'd fix this evening. This was Fran Morgan's kitchen. What was she doing tied up in Fran Morgan's kitchen and, more importantly, where was Fran and her daughters?

A whisper brought her attention to her right. Or at least she thought it might have been a whisper. Her ears rang with high pitched abandon and outside of that her ears felt like she was under water. Her vision blurred and darkened as she turned her head so she shut her eyes tightly again but her ears strained to listen more closely.

"Emily" She heard more clearly this time, the voice was definitely female but it was hard to tell whose it was. Again Emily forced her eyes open. "Emily, are you ok?" Emily mumbled something she hoped sounded like a yes and forced a small reassuring smile as Desiree Morgan came into focus.

"Your Mother?" Emily croaked. "Sarah?"

"I don't know. I was the only one here when they came." Desi whispered. Emily could feel her scooting closer as she shut her eyes again.

"Who's they?" Emily gasped. "Are you ok?"

"I am OK. And I don't know" She whimpered apologetically. "Gangers, I think I recognize them but I don't know exactly who they are. Two brought you in here and tied me up but there's just the one still here." Emily nodded slowly and forced her eyes back open to squint at the old clock above the door to the living room. "We've been here half an hour" Desi answered her silent question. "That's a long time to be unconscious, are you sure you're ok?"

"I'll live" Emily assured as best she could.

"Don't be so sure, White-girl" came a mocking voice from the living room. Instantly Emily recognized it as the voice that had threatened her along with Rodney's her first day at the Morgan home. "Your friends just let my boy, Rodney, go. You're meddling may have cost us some pretty profitable work and he is not going to be happy."

"Rodney cost you whatever you've lost with his big mouth." Emily dismissed, her eyes finally coming into focus for good as the young man sauntered into the kitchen. "He practically cuffed himself this morning"

"And what's your big mouth gonna cost you, Bitch?" He laughed as he came close enough to grab her jaw. Emily smirked and deftly sent one of her boots into the young man's groin. He let go of her roughly, cursing as he fell back. "You need to learn your place." he seethed. "Learn some respect; I got you all to myself until Rodney gets here..."

"Oh yes, very original" Emily taunted, not even letting him finish as she sat up as tall as she could with her arms bound behind her. "I am shaking in my little pointed boots."

"What about your friend here?" he asked, regaining mobility and grabbing for Desi's hair. Roughly he pulled her upright and grinned as he held her suggestively close to his wounded groin. "She shakin? Maybe she'd like to kiss it better." Emily shut her mouth and her smile fell away. "That's what I thought." he mocked, pushing the girl back onto the floor and sending a glob of spittle flying in Emily's direction. It landed on the floor next to her but none-the-less she had trouble holding back a gag.

"You're an idiot" Emily sighed. Desi sent a surprised scared look her way. "You boys had enough trouble on your hands with your connection to these missing babies, whatever it is, now you've kidnapped a federal agent, assaulted the sister of another agent, and pretty much guaranteed that whoever it is calling the shots on these kidnappings will scape-goat as much of this onto you as they possibly can."

"You better watch it!" their captor snarled.

"Or what?" Emily challenged. Her voice stayed strong while her tired body fell back against the cupboard once more. "You're a coward. A scared little boy waiting for his big brother to get here and do his dirty work." a flicker in the angry eyes of the man showed Emily she was on the right track, this boy was family to Rodney somehow, if not a brother a close cousin. "What's your name, kid"

"They call be T-bone" The boy drawled, his voice shaking underneath the swagger. "And I ain't no kid brother, bitches best be scared of me, I will fuck you up if you keep beakin'"

Whatever answer Emily may have had was silenced by the sound of a key in the apartment door. Emily cringed, T-bone grinned. Fran Morgan didn't even have time to scream before the ganger had his arm wrapped around her mouth to muffle her cries while the other pulled an arm around her back.

"Looks like Mama's come to join the party" T-bone grinned kicking the door shut "Wonder how that boyfriend of yours would feel if he knew your mouthing off got his mama hurt? You shut your mouth and be a good little hostage or I swear to you, I'll make her unrecognizable even to her children."

"You don't know who you're dealing with" Emily warned but otherwise stayed silent. She shot him a defiant glare then let her gaze drop to Fran. Her nostrils flared like she was having trouble breathing and her eyes misted over with tears she would not let fall. Fran was a strong woman, all the Morgan women were, but Emily knew she'd need to take the brunt of whatever was in store for them. She'd never forgive herself if they were harmed, never mind how Derek would feel.

"Like I said, coward" Emily growled. "Be a man and pick on someone who will fight back"

In a flash Fran was sent sprawling to the floor and T-bone was on her, the heavy gold ring on his right hand cutting into Emily's cheek as his fist came down in a brutal arc. Despite the pain Emily forced herself to groan out a hoarse laugh.

"I hope your big brother's got a better arm" Emily teased, she felt blood slip out over her chin as she spoke but ignored it. "I've taken a few beatings in my time, it'll take a lot to impress me." his large hands grabbed her by the hair and pushed her head back against the cupboard. This time Emily cried out as the pressure on her head wound shot through her causing stars to swim before her eyes. Seemingly satisfied that she didn't say anything more he moved away to tie Fran to one of the kitchen chairs and stormed out of the room while dialing his phone.

"Are you crazy?" Desi whispered cutting if her mother's own careful whisper. "Why are you egging him on?"

"I have to keep him flustered and keep his focus on me" Emily grunted. She must have bitten down on her tongue when he hit her because her aching mouth was filling with the warm metallic taste of blood again.

"What the hell is happening?" Fran finally managed.

"The case we got called in on is connected to these clowns somehow." Emily offered, gagging as she tried to swallow the blood in her mouth. Finally she gave up and spit. "I am sorry, I'll clean it up when I can." she frowned. Fran laughed.

"It's quite all right dear" She answered kindly. She truly did hope to call Emily a daughter one day, a mother in law couldn't ask for better than a daughter-in-law so polite she'd apologize for injuries sustained while protecting your family. Concerned Fran's eyes drifted to her youngest daughter. "Are you ok, Desi? The baby?"

"I am fine" Desi shrugged. "They barely touched me."

"They won't hurt you, Desi. It's the baby. Whatever's going on here I think your baby is a part of it. They won't hurt him." Emily pulled herself forward testing her restraints as the Morgan women shared a long heavy look of fear. She flinched as the rope pressed into her already injured wrist but smiled as she realized she could grasp the pathetic knot that kept her arms in place. If she could manage to get out now she had no doubt overpowering T-bone would be practically effortless but her plans were cut short when the buzzer by the door rang out and their captor sauntered through to answer it.

"Now you're in for it." he promised with a sick smile. "Rodney's here".

*CM*

To Be Continued! Please leave a review if you have a moment. I hope to update very soon.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Criminal Minds. If I did the show would be way hella different that's for true. I am not making any money off of playing with them though so I would appreciate it if no one sued me. Thanks.

*CM*

By the time the patrol car pulled up beside his SUV and the local uniforms introduced themselves Derek was down right disgruntled. He'd sent a text message to Emily to see where she was at but got no response, it could mean that she was still questioning the scared young girl and didn't want to be interrupted but a heavy feeling settled further into his gut every minute of silence that passed. Calmly he transferred custody of their suspect and took over the paper work, the patrol car had just disappeared around the next corner taking Jason to the field office and Derek was moving across the street to serve their subpoena when he saw it. The heavy feeling in his gut turned to ice.

The phone's screen had a crack along the face of it that spread out like a spider web across the dark glass, He knew before he even picked it up that it was Emily's. He'd been at the airport gift shop in Fresno a few months ago when she'd purchased its distinct ruby red rubber casing. Grabbing the phone he activated the screen to see his impatient text message flash across it along with a missed call from Hotch. The missed call was nearly 20 minutes past and Derek couldn't help the curse that pushed past his teeth.

"Excuse me!" He called toward the back offices of the clinic. There was no one at the front desk and a part of him was still holding onto the desperate hope that Emily was still inside, that she'd dropped her phone without noticing. Maybe she'd gone back in looking for it. Impatiently he slapped his hand repeatedly over the obnoxious little bell on the reception desk. "Hello, Federal Agent." He identified himself. A quick scan of the waiting room showed the same faces he'd seen on his way out. His brow furrowed in confusion. "Have any of you seen a receptionist or any of the doctors?"

"No sir" An elderly woman piped up. She sounded tired and not at all happy with the situation. "This place is usually busy but I've never waited this long before."

"What about the woman I was here with earlier?" He asked.

"She left not long after you did." The woman told him impatiently. Derek turned back towards the reception desk and leaned over it to peer down the long hallways behind. Seeing nothing he quickly moved around it and started knocking on offices and examination rooms, one after another they came up empty.

"Is there no one here?" He asked himself as he came to the last closed door. He knocked and just like each door before it when there was no answer he pushed it open. Unlike every door before it he was greeted with a mess where the others had been clean and awaiting their next patient. There had obviously been a struggle; a file lay scattered as though it'd been swiped off the desk, a chair sat upturned and the paper sheet on the examination table was torn and crinkled as though someone had been held down on it and had struggled. Beside the upturned chair he glimpsed a needle. Someone had fought hard not to be taken out of this room. The question was who. If Emily had followed him out before she'd seemingly disappeared then that left...

"Excuse me, Ma'am" Derek called, jogging back out to the waiting room. "The girl we'd been talking to, did you happen to see if she left too?"

"I didn't see her leave." She reported.

"I heard her crying." A man chimed in. "I went back to use the washroom and heard her talking with Dr. Greene. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I could definitely tell she was crying." Derek drew his phone from his pocket and dialed his boss, pacing a bit as it rang, trying to keep his panic under control.

"Hotch," He barely let the man get a greeting out before diving right out. "Emily's gone, I've lost our witness, and there's no one here at the clinic to serve this subpoena to."

"Hold on a second." Hotch cut in. "Gone?"

"I don't know what happened. I found her phone on the sidewalk outside." He almost yelled in his frustration. "I was right there. I was parked right there."

"Rossi. JJ and I are on our way to you." Hotch assured his distraught agent. "I am sending uniforms ahead to help you secure the building. No one goes in or out."

"Ok" Derek sighed heavily. "Just hurry." He took only a moment as the dull tone of his phone indicated that his boss had disconnected the call; only a few short seconds to tell himself that it would all be ok, that he wouldn't be loosing another loved one on this god forsaken block in the heart of his childhood neighbourhood. After that moment he acted, barking orders to the two helpful bystanders to gather the other patients in the waiting room while he cleared the rest of the building officially.

*CM*

Emily didn't get this far in life with the kinds of jobs she'd held by panicking when things didn't go in her favor. She almost laughed when she thought about what Ian Doyle would think of a lowlife thug like Rodney, Fahey had been lucky enough to last as many years as he had. This development was nothing to get nervous about; she was leagues ahead of this guy. She glanced over at the Morgan women and found herself whispering reassurances to them once again. When Rodney did come in the room all the arrogant swagger that had antagonized her the last week was gone and in his eyes was rage.

"Just like your little boyfriend" he snarled at Emily. "Messing around in other people's business"

"Other people's business is my business" Emily shrugged casually, the movement if her shoulder allowing a flick of her uninjured wrist as she gripped the bindings that held her.

"And look where it's got you" He moved his hand out to catch a handful of Fran Morgan's hair. "Look where it's got your boy's precious family" Fran did her best not to cry out, Emily could see the struggle on her face but the sound came anyway.

"Who's idea was it to bring Desiree into this? I most certainly had nothing to do with that." Emily challenged. "Why did you confront me and threaten her? Are you so preoccupied with taunting Derek that you forgot to think of the consequences?" she paused for effect, giving another pull at the ropes behind her. "Are you in love with him or something?" She expected rage, she expected said rage to blind him to her near freedom and give her time to act. Instead the buzzer rang again seemingly distracting Rodney from her dig at his sexuality, he threw Fran's head away from him, sending the woman sprawling and calmly turned to his sidekick.

"That's the Doctor" he barked. "We complete this last delivery and we get out" Emily gasped, her veins seemed to be turning to ice and she was sure goose bumps were spreading along her skin.

"What the hell does that mean?" She yelled as the men moved to the door. She was no longer trying to conceal her movements as she pulled at her binding; she needed to get free before her suspicions could be confirmed.

"You moron" the low gentle tone of Dr. Greene chided. "I said they were getting close, I didn't say you should kidnap an FBI agent."

"She's our insurgence" Rodney defended.

"She's a liability" Dr. Greene sneered.

"Just take your package and let me worry about her." Said Rodney moving to pull Desi to her feet.

"It's a bit early." The doctor determined with a cock of his head. "Assuming we could get him to the safe house and give him proper care there would still be developmental delays. Our buyers don't pay us top dollar for damaged goods."

"Him?" Desi choked out, tears had long since started running down her frightened face. "You mean my baby." the doctor laughed.

"You mean my baby." he corrected. "His father's signed his rights away to me and if you want your family to live through this mess you will too."

"Never" Fran cried, moving closer to her daughter but Rodney and T-Bone pulled the young woman away. "She won't!" the older woman insisted even as the heavy booted feet of the two thugs kicked her away. Desi started struggling against the arms that held her but the men easily overpowered her. "No! Please, let her go," her mother pleaded. With seemingly little effort they pushed Desi down onto the kitchen table and started binding her arms and legs as she fought. Dr Greene turned to the bag he'd brought in with him and started preparing an injection. Emily saw her chance.

Her muscles screamed at her sudden movements, the change in altitude from floor to standing was enough to send her ringing ears into fever pitch but she knew she couldn't stop. She had no gun, no hand cuffs, but she didn't need them. A calmness came over her as her training kicked in, with every inhale she mentally slowed her heart rate, with every exhale she focused in on her target. The men barely noticed that she was up before she was on them. T-bone was down with a swift upward strike of her palm to his nose, she kicked him back against the kitchen cupboards as he fell. With a large sweeping arch of her arm she close lined Rodney around the neck, he stumbled back sputtering but recovered quickly and moved for her. Deftly she blocked every one of his swinging hits, pushing is fists away as if they were nothing and within a few moments she found the opportunity to send a high kick into his chest, knocking him back into a wall full of photos and trinkets. Glass and porcelain tumbled to the ground some stained red with Rodney's blood but although more slowly this time he came at her again. This time he managed a glancing blow to her still-healing ribs which forced an extra puff of air from her lungs with a groan but didn't slow her down, within a few moments he was backed into a corner and Emily came in for her final blows. A brutal strike to his windpipe left him gasping while a sharp uppercut from her other hand knocked him out cold.

"Emily!" Desi and Fran yelled at once but before she could react there was a sharp piercing pain where the skin if her shoulders met her neck. She gasped as a strong arm came around to cover her face.

"Very impressive, agent Prentiss" Dr Greene told her. "But I am a brain over brawn man myself" despite the heaviness overtaking her Emily threw her head back, smiling lazily as her skull made contact with his face with a satisfying crunch. One of her arms grabbed clumsily at his thinning grey hair while the other pulled desperately at the arm over her mouth and nose as the need for more oxygen became desperate. She tried dropping her weight to loosen his grip, her knees bending in an attempt to slip out of his grasp but he caught her with a lean leg under her bottom. She kicked at him as he laid her on the glass littered ground but whatever he'd injected her with was taking her now. The last thing she registered was the crash of splintering wood and the frightened calls of Fran and Desi Morgan.

To Be Continued!

Almost there folks! Part of me is drawing this out a bit as I kind of don't want to see it end. Feedback is love!


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